I See You

𝘐 𝘚𝘦𝘦 𝘠𝘰𝘶 feels like The xx have finally decided to let a little sunlight into the room without getting rid of the curtains. Their trademark minimalism is still very much intact, but there’s more warmth, movement, and energy here than you might expect. The delicate vocals, atmospheric guitars, and electronic beats complement each other beautifully, creating a sound that’s both intimate and surprisingly inviting.

What I really like about this album is how effortlessly everything seems to come together. The songs never feel overcrowded, yet there’s always something interesting going on beneath the surface. The more upbeat moments give the record a welcome sense of momentum, while the quieter passages maintain that wonderfully melancholic atmosphere The xx do so well. It’s a delicate balance, and they pull it off remarkably well.

Not every track is equally memorable, and there are moments when the understated approach comes close to being a little too understated. But for the most part, I find the album genuinely captivating. It has a lovely flow, a distinct personality, and enough subtle details to reward repeated listens.

𝘐 𝘚𝘦𝘦 𝘠𝘰𝘶 is the kind of record that sounds even better when the world around you finally shuts up for a while. Sometimes all you need is a good pair of headphones and an album that knows exactly what it wants to be.

Bit droney and predictable. Feels like there just aren't choruses or resolution to the music. The lyrics feel canned and without significant meaning. None of this matters in some genres but they chose this one and I feel like it just lacks a punch. Not bad, but, it's background music isn't it?

Nyeh.

Not much to get into apart from their singles, and even then it feels like it is far from their best.

Blah. I like their debut. This is just boring. I can’t come up with any reason this makes the list. Hundreds of more deserving titles.

Completely indefensible as an inclusion on the list of 1001 albums I must hear before I die. I pray that the author of the book reflects on his Eurocentric bias & commits an act of penance for each of his bogus picks.

Well that was boring.

Im always excited whenever I get to hear something I am not familiar with but lets be honest, most of the time on this project it turns out to be terrible.

THIS is the exception. I like everything about this. Instrumentation/programming are not only interesting but catchy as hell. And the vocals.... If it were just the guy singing it might get old after a while but when you throw in the female vocals it really lights up both of them.

I ended up adding a bunch of this to my liked songs playlist. Im not going to go out seeking to purchase this but if I see it when Im out at the record store its going home with me without hesitation.

Easy 4 stars.

Tv show music

This album was beautifully dreamy.

I See You feels almost colorless to me. There’s a certain elegance in its restraint, but after a while that restraint starts to feel more like emotional distance. The sparse arrangements, hushed vocals, and understated rhythms create the familiar xx atmosphere, yet the album rarely surprises or pulls me in deeply enough.
It’s not a bad record by any means—it’s carefully made, atmospheric, and occasionally beautiful—but I found myself admiring it more than actually feeling it. The mood stays so consistent that, for me, it becomes a little monotonous and even slightly boring. Almost everything is in its right place, but there’s not enough contrast, tension, or messiness to give the songs much color.
Maybe that cool, minimalist quality is exactly what makes I See You appealing to some listeners. For me, though, it left very little behind once the music stopped.

Some of the production is nicely textured, but almost all the songs are boring. The vocals grate.

It's not as boring as the other xx album, that's one positive. It didn't have the beauty of the other album they have on here either however. I didn't really dislike any part of this, but it feels like such a forgettable and inconsequential release that I find it hard to say much about it. Did it do anything wrong? Did it do anything right? Who listens to this? Have those people ever heard other music?

As with their other album, I'm finding this just way too stripped back and wafty. Particularly in the vocal delivery, which stays the same across the whole album. I don't mind some of the musical / atmospheric elements per se, but they don't have any real impact outside of a very gentle texture. It's hard to engage with this when it's so slight, and again, as with their other album, it's just so fucking boring.

I think this album is an improvement over their other on this list, but it does get fairly bland. I love a good duet, but I feel like we got 10 pretty ok duets.

I’m at a 4.5 that I’ll bump up to a 5.

Most of the top reviews on the site describe this album as boring, or some of the other million synonyms for the word. It’s a description probably borne out of both the older skew on the site & a certain disdain for 2017 production. The former may just be a generation gap, but the latter is one that’s loosely understandable almost a decade later (we were really hanging onto the ‘boom’ part of ‘boom/clap’ for a while). I wouldn’t characterize this as boring, but I think I see why it’s easy to call it that; this album isn’t doing anything remarkably unique in the totality of the 2017 indie space. It is, however, unique to The xx, who normally specialize in letting the emptiness of a minimalist soundscape set the tone. That emptiness is replaced by a bit more than usual; sort of a lo-fi version of ‘90s house with some of the trends of mainstream pop at the time. It’s slightly jarring at first, but once you settle into it, it’s generally nice, and every production choice works hand in hand with the lyrics & vocals (most apparent on something like “A Violent Noise”).

This album’s biggest strength is in that production, but it’s accentuated by the songwriting. I think the mistake here is confusing ‘simple’ for ‘boring’; a lot of these tracks are expressly straightforward & laying themselves out without much additional room for interpretation. It’s mostly centered around finding connection & trying to overcome the tension that comes with it, whether it’s a lack of comfort, self-prophesizing cynicism, chasing highs or coping with lows. I think these are very simple concepts, but the execution behind them is what makes the tracks work. It’s consistently strong execution that pulls the most out of everything it can. If you’re not inclined towards the actual soundscapes in the production here, you probably won’t like this, but if it’s not as big of a deal, it should be easy to recognize the intentionality behind every choice. All of the little backing synths & microbeats swirl & melt in ways that drive the pulse of each track.

The weak spot here is that even with how much I like the execution, a few of the earliest tracks do still feel like they’re not doing anything past the basics. I still won’t classify them as boring, because I liked them, but I think “Dangerous” feels a little plain (though inoffensively fun) & “Lips” just isn’t super compelling past a regular sense of love. The album hits a good stretch from “A Violent Noise” onwards, but I’m not super sold on “Test Me” as the closing track. I just don’t know if you should end an album about connections & a desire for acknowledgement on one with such unanswered undertones. I honestly think it could’ve been the opening track.

Regardless, I think this is a pretty good album. I don’t think it’s as good as “xx” was, but that’s a hard album to top. My biggest comparison here is in how much this feels like an Everything but the Girl album, with Romy sounding distinctly like Tracey Thorn throughout most of her verses. It feels like a naturally carried torch from Idlewild’s controlled tones & the baseline electronica of Walking Wounded, and I just can’t help but enjoy it for that reason. Mileage will vary, as always, but I think this does enough to warrant bumping it up to a 5, at least for my tastes. I’m glad it’s on the list.

Ik vraag bij MJ Cole om vergelijkingsmateriaal en krijg direct daarna deze plaat. Het is wellicht geen garage-house, maar ook dit album combineert een moderne beat met meer gevoelige zang en rustigere muziek. Er komt nog eens een wat klassieker instrument voorbij. Zelfs de hoes heeft dezelfde kleur. De beats en vooral de bassdrums zijn wat minder heftig, waardoor je wat minder tegenstelling ervaart. Het is daardoor wat saaier en het doet wat aan jaren '90 artiesten als Seal denken. Dit gerecht had wat meer peper kunnen gebruiken. 3,5 ster.

Mega Stark, könnt ich mir pausenlos anhören

oooooooooooke

EDM-house really took over the mid-2010s huh, or maybe since this is my first "The xx" album that I might actually be describing their niche sound?

It sounds so of its time and also very "modern" (in that I'm reliving my teenage years) that I'm still a bit turned off by it. I'm not sure how to describe the album but to me it's uncomfortably familiar: the dance-adjacent production and the ambient synths. I think trite is a better word; I heard elements of this album from listening to Top 40 radio every day as a teen.

Very weird to hear the xx with vocals! Two vocalists, even! They're both competent; the lyrics are kinda grade schooly, but they're clear! and the music is good. Nice album. Very chill electropop; maybe a bit too chill, but I suppose it has its place.

Highlights: 'On Hold', 'I Dare You' (apparently they sang these both on SNL, which I have exactly 0 memory of. November 2016... what a time)

Lowlights: 'Performance', 'Test Me' (zzz)