The xx

When The xx unveiled their breathy bedroom ballads in 2009, they sounded like no one else. Their silky blend of sultry trip-hop, dream-pop, and dubstep stimulates in its restraint. Just out of school, the group—Romy, Oliver Sim, Baria Qureshi, and Jamie xx—were still learning their instruments and wanted the tracks to sound exactly as they would live. That simplicity shaped their Mercury Prize-winning debut and signature sound. After Qureshi's departure, the trio kept their understated appeal. Romy and Sim’s hushed harmonies still feel like lovers' confessions on wispy tracks like “Angels,” while Jamie’s evolving beats brought hypnotic singles like “On Hold.” Their atmospheric sound has seeped into indie, pop, and hip-hop and seduced stars like Rihanna and Drake. Still, no one can replicate what The xx do best—stripping down intimacy to heart-throbbing beats and echoes of all the ineffable spaces in between.