The xx – Komedia, Brighton – 1/3/5
5/5
By: Keri Kennedy
It’s been a tough period for The xx. Not only did founder member Baria Qureshi leave late last year citing exhaustion as the reason, but Romy Madley-Croft’s father died last month, with this Brighton date the first return to the stage since her loss. Add to this the fact the band are touring the hell out of their August debut (have you seen how long the dates run for?), and you could forgive them a failure tonight.
Certainly the first few numbers take a bit of easing in. ‘Crystalised’, so dependent on the bursts of rhythm from Jamie Smith’s drum machines, misses the beat on one or two occasions, literally and stylistically. But he is, remember, doing Qureshi’s work as well as his own now, and succeeds 99% of the time. Playing as a trio gives The xx a symmetry and succinctness to an already near-faultless artistic aesthetic that’s irresistible. When a stunning lightshow arcs above them like the bottom half of the familiar ‘X’ insignia for the downer than downtempo ‘Fantasy’, or when Oliver Sim murmurs in his just woken up, latently sexual purr on ‘Heart Skipped A Beat’, you file these moments to memory as classics. Smith moves from the electronic kit to the real thing for a cover of Kyla’s ‘Do You Mind’, which is rousing to say the least, and even the ever-present ‘Teardrops’ seems invigorated.
“We need to work on our stage banter”, notes Sim about ten tracks into the set – the first comment he makes all night. Perhaps they are nervous, perhaps it’s a conscious decision, but as with so much of The xx’s music, the beauty – of which there is plenty and which none dissipates live – comes from the unsaid, the implied, and the wordlessly understood. You sort of ache to hear what they’ll do next.
Artists in this article: The XX
Your Feedback
Login to post your comment