Live show review (with photos): The xx at the Showbox

{All photos by Alex Crick.}

When I finally listened to the debut, self-titled album from young UK indie band The xx, months after it was released in 2009, I started to think about what made music sexy differently. In this case, it is minimalist pop that understates everything. The lyrics, sung by Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim, are, as Sasha Frere-Jones put it in the pages of The New Yorker, “to be sung inches from someone’s ear, preferably with the lights off.” He also noted, “The songs on ‘xx’ are as intimate as pop gets.” It would sound erotic if Croft and/or Sim sang the directions to instructional manuals. The lyrics aren’t romantic or hopeful, but they convey a desire that is overt.

The intimacy the music demands, made it special for an evening at the Showbox at the Market. One of the larger clubs in town, yes, but more intimate than the theaters they had been playing; the last and next Seattle show from The xx was/will be at the Paramount. Wednesday’s show at the Showbox sold out in just a few hours, but it’s a few months ahead of the band’s highly-anticipated sophomore album Coexist, which is due out September 11.

As acclaimed as The xx’s live shows are, they aren’t traditionally exciting. The between-song banter is minimal (and largely inaudible). Instead, what the band excels at is recreating the closeness their songs demand for a live setting, even when listening through speakers sounds like it could be too distant. The music is how the band connects with their fans. The fog machine and blue lights throughout seemed to help.

The set, which seemed brief after a little over an hour, consisted of a handful of songs from Coexist, and more from xx. The songs moved seamlessly between one another, often with a barely noticeable transition, only pausing for crowd reactions a few times. The songs also were organized in the setlist by their flow, rather than waiting until the end to play the “hits,” which in this case would probably be “Islands,” “VCR” and “Crystalised.” “Angels,” the new single the band performed on “Conan” the night before, opened the set, before moving in to “Islands.” “Crystalised” and “VCR” were in the middle of the set.

What the trick that The xx pulled off so beautifully is that they found away to make the show feel like they were singing directly to you, even without acknowledging the audience’s presence. They didn’t need to make any eye contact with you, or tell any clever stories. You were there because you could feel like you were there.

Setlist: