The xx: 'xx'

It's rare for a debut album to generate such a fevered pitch of anticipation as the Xx's. An album that exceeds the hype is an even rarer beast. The London four piece first set blogs ablaze with their cover of Aaliyah's "Hot Like Fire", and the influence of now-fashionable 90s R'n'B is at subtle play here. This, however, is a world far-removed from R'n'B's sugariness: steeped in icy melancholy, arrangements are spare and tensile almost to breaking point. "Crystalised", in particular, takes the atmosphere of dangerous intimacy to its most charged with boy/girl vocals in delicate conflict. Quietly, utterly electrifying.