The xx: I See You

“I have been a romantic for so long,” Romy Madley Croft sings on “I Dare You,” a post- R&B anthem from The xx’s third LP. But she changes gears a few lines later, boasting, “I’m on a different kind of high.” Both statements ring true on the hypnotic I See You, the London trio’s first album in five years, which balances their trademark broken-heart minimalism with lush, experimental soundscapes. The MVP here is keyboardist-producer Jamie xx, who laces these tracks with startling, ever-shifting surprises. Opener “Dangerous” signals the evolution afoot, as xx weaves sampled trumpet blasts into the bass-heavy dubstep groove—anchored, as always, by the tag-team vocals of guitarist Croft and bassist Oliver Sim. “Performance,” an otherwise standard xx ballad, surges with organic orchestral heft; “Test Me” borders on shoegazing with its eerie, reversed vocals and theremin-like tones. Jamie xx, perhaps reflecting his recent work with pop stars like Drake and Alicia Keys, also brings refreshing levity to his beats: propelling “I Dare You” with handclaps, swerving “On Hold” into melted hip-hop samples. With Croft and Sim still crooning like lost 1990s R&B stars, the band never strays too far from the catharsis of their previous work—they’ve just tweaked the recipe enough to avoid growing stale.