Coexist

Coexist's exploration of isolation and intimacy is demanding and rewarding in its bold subtlety and eloquent simplicity.

Hard to imagine that the XX could construct a quieter album than the first, but that's what Coexist manages. The first-time poetry of the debut will always be more earthshaking, but the softer, silkier, and more tender Coexist proves the trio can be just as memorable in repeat doses.

With a signature sound established at the first time of asking, The xx's challenge was to both expand their palette and satisfy the demands of a huge audience. And through refinement rather than reinvention, they've succeeded in singular style.

The end result is a quieted, more suppressed record that steps delicately from one note to the next and shines even more of a spotlight on the twin vocal sentiments of longing and crumbled romance.

This album is one that begs to be lived with for a long period of time, its quiet details given ample room to germinate.

There's enough ingenuity on Coexist to remind us why the xx was a game-changer three years ago; with any luck it will end up a blip on a resume of more inspiring releases.

The melodies aren't quite as immediate as the best songs from the debut, but Coexist functions as a near-perfect mood piece.

The familiar sparse, shrugging guitar touches return, sounding no less beguiling than they did three years ago, but the craft has improved. Where 'xx' traded on a certain naïve charm, 'Coexist' is a meticulously controlled aural environment.

Coexist surges forward and retreats within itself more than its predecessor but still never breaks the surface, existing in the liminal space between a song and a thought.

The xx lay out all of their pieces beautifully. There are no extraneous parts. Not a second that they didn't intend. As a result, songs like 'Tides' or 'Chained' unfold as naturally as a ripple of wind.

This album certainly sounds more produced, but the band's investment in studio time mostly means sighing washes of prismatic reverb rather than a new architecture of synths and drums. Still, many of the album's best moments are its most... well, not beat-driven, but beat-bedazzled.

It's exciting to hear the minimalist U.K. trio approach their new-crush odes with such austerity in Coexist.

Coexist is far from a bad effort. Gentle sophisticates that the XX are, however, it's hardly surprising that the cutting edge got a little too sharp.

They add up to a song cycle with a happy ending--the joy of which may grow in wisdom or crumble back toward nothingness tomorrow.

Neither spectacular or deflating, Coexist is simply the sound of the xx, more or less just as we left it: minimalist, intuitive, romantic and enchanting. Consequently it's a good album, for exactly the same qualities that made their debut likewise.

The xx has refined its sound, creating an even sparser atmosphere. But there is strength in this minimalism.

Rather than exerting an effort to advance a conversation or craft unique circumstances in which to present notions on love, most of the lyrics on Coexist are one-dimensional planes floating through the group's oft-glorious 3-D spaces.

While album three may require a reboot from The XX, that's for another day. Right now, when it comes to fusing indie rock and dance, no one pulls it off quite as elegantly.

If letting the world in has resulted in an album this beguiling, there's nothing to fear. [Oct 2012, p.80]

The largest problem with Coexist is something shared with the debut. A lot of it just washes over you without leaving a trace. It's always high quality, assembled with a craftsman's eye for gorgeously unfussy detail, but it can leave you unengaged. It's soporific, far from unpleasantly, but in a way that means you can come out the other side unmoved.

It hides more than xx did, sneaking its miserable joys behind bare spaces, surprise time signatures and subtle dramas. But listen after listen it reveals just as many treasures beneath its layers of shimmering sadness.

Overall, it's a successful return, and a record that demonstrates the success of their debut wasn't a fluke and that The xx truly are masters of musical alchemy.

Its low frequencies, irregular rhythms and slow-burning dance beats creep into the songs and draw us in deeper.

The most appealing thing about this record is that this band, having created a brilliant and moving sound, returns to it again for another 38 minutes.

It's a collective of conjoined poems, meticulously attuned to shake both the earth and eardrums alike.

As gripping as the album is all the way through-it seems to chart an on/off relationship even more directly than their eponymous album did-its best moment is actually its first. Opener "Angels" is one of the meekest xx tracks, but it's easily among their most powerful.

Coexist will not surprise old fans. The xx haven't altered their sound, they've refined it, adding a splash of arena-rock guitar here, a clubby 4/4 thump there.

What makes this music special is what Smith does with all that stylized sparseness, transforming it into something alive and dynamic instead of merely sleepy.

Coexist presents a version of The xx that listeners will recognize, but cleans everything up a bit, subtly stretching and improving the formula that won acclaim.

At a certain point, the xx need to turn off that reverb pedal and learn to sing above a whisper - but I'll be damned if they haven't worked their magic again.

'Coexist' is a refinement and crystallisation of their debut.

A low-key triumph.

The world adored the xx's Mercury Prize-winning debut album xx. Coexist is, if anything, an even finer piece of work.

A wonderful experiment in the power of absence.

Coexist is yet another masterpiece of lush asceticism.

Coexist may not sound as dramatically original as their debut but it is every bit as other-worldly, like eavesdropping on intimate conversations between forlorn lovers on a space station orbiting around a distant planet.