Florence & The Machine is pretty popular in the UK and virtually unknown here in the States. The XX seems relatively popular in the UK, but everyone we know thinks they are the best band "ever." We agree mostly with the last appraisal and mostly because the band keeps making songs like this. Florence is totally over-the-top orchestral radio pop, so of course, since The XX isn't over-the-top anything, they strip it all away and rebuild an intensely quiet 2-step/funky anthem with calypso tumbles and trademark whispers. Check the upcoming issue of The FADER for a story on the The XX, see them when they play another slew of dates all over the world (including the US in November) and make sure to pick up the new album XX on iTunes or wherever else you can find it.
Photographer John Francis Peters
September 30, 2009
