Newcomer’s to the indie scene, The XX made noise in 2009 and just recently won the Mercury Prize, an annual music prize awarded for the best album from the UK and Ireland. The young trio from London, focuses on spacey, hypnotizing rhythmic beats, and intimate back and forth musings of between the lead singers. Their music gives me the feeling of vulnerability and honesty all wrapped up and delivered in delicately crafted simple beats and lyrics.
The video that I wanted to analyze entitled Islands. I was never really into the indie scene until I heard this song. I was pretty much hooked onto the band after that. The video is a direct parallel to the heart of this band. Simply complex. It’s like an iceberg, the deeper you go, the more you’ll get their message. The video has the trio sit on a black couch in the middle of set that has X’s lit up on the back wall. Surrounding the trio are 3 couples, dancing to a tight 8 second set of choreography, which is repeated throughout the whole video. The first time I watched it, I didn’t get it at all. I just sat there thinking; hmm they just did the same thing like a hundred times…that was kind of cool? So then I watched it again closely and realized that after each repeated set, the dancers change a small part of the choreography. The intense stories of the 3 couples slowly unfold, with band monotonously still sitting there on the couch, fearing the inevitable. Simple design, complex message.
