I am liking ‘I See You’ a lot, 10 quid for a fabulous production of post-Millenial pop. The xx are continuing their theme of minimalist ethereal music on a mournful theme. Having overcome the ‘difficult second album’ syndrome with Coexist, ‘I See You’ (was this the greeting from Avatar?) contains, as it seems to me, several classic The xx tracks like ‘I Dare You’ and ‘Brave For You’. Overall there is a slightly more eclectic feel here, with different vocal arrangements and several samples in the background. Jamie xx’s production is superb and the resolution of the music is beautiful. There is a feel of Everything But The Girl for me with, for example, ‘Performance’ and The Cure with ‘Replica’ but this is no bad thing as far as I am concerned.

After what I would consider a disappointing 2016 for new music, after Blackstar, this is a very positive start. I am very excited about Ryan Adams’ new album next month too. Thereafter, we will see.

Album – I See You
Artist – The xx
Download These At Least- I Dare You, Brave for You

Source – Tidal, CD
Player – iMac, Naim NAC-N272
Amplification/Output – Audio Pro Lv33e, NAP250DR, Focal Sopra No2
Released – 13 January 2017
10 Tracks, 39 15″