CMJ 2009 Live: The XX @ Mercury Lounge

We were surprised to see so many people at the Javelin gig that played out just before The XX at the Mercury Lounge but really, it was nothing compared to the amount of faces present right now.

Squeezed within an inch of our lives against the right of the stage, we fumble awkwardly back and forth along the front of the venue, snapping shots before becoming firmly wedged into place right in-front of male vocalist Oliver Sim. He's a giant, a monster of a man with a haircut that only adds to his peculiar appearance but it's not his looks we're in awe of here, it's his voice. 

Drifting, melancholic words float ethereally over organic, twinkling down-tempo electronica. Slices of indie and catchy hooks are in there too somewhere but they're buried underneath all of the surprising maturity and musical dexterity. Female vocalist Romy Croft slots wonderfully into place alongside Sim's tonal mutterings, never outplaying him and always complimenting their one-two vocal patterns.

Sure their stage presence was a little empty but from the very moment their music began, no one in the audience seemed to care much. "I feel as if I should work on my crowd banter" mumbles Sim midway through their set with a nervous but genuine smile. "Anyway" he sighs, "here's more music".

They played a whole heap of tracks from their XX debut including all of the favourites; VCR, Crystalised, album closer Stars (which also finished their set) and a fantastic cover of the 80's hit Teardrops by Womack Womack. Even more striking than their flawless set-list was the fact that as we stood there, transfixed by their music prowess, we realised that note for note, moment by moment, the songs sounded exactly the same as their CD counterpart. 

It's strange nowadays for bands to perfectly recreate the atmosphere of their album whether that's down to time constraints on stage or just different instruments being used.  But for four twenty-year-olds from London to come on stage at a packed out venue in New York and silence an entire crowd whilst never missing a beat, well, we think that's just a little bit special. Don't you?

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