Three years after their stunning debut ‘xx’ was released to widespread critical acclaim, culminating in the band winning the Mercury Music Prize, The xx return with their hugely anticipated second album ‘Coexist’
 
After time spent touring, and then some time away from the studio and each other, when the band (Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim and Jamie Smith) regrouped, they found their way of working together had evolved. Jamie explains, “Learning to work together as grown-ups was the biggest thing - it’s the thing that influenced the album the most. We just needed to find a balance.”

“To coexist doesn’t paint the rosiest picture but I think it represents the realness,” continues Romy. “Learning to live together, learning to work together again, learning to live with the person you’re with, or your ex. It’s all connected.”

Described by The Guardian as, “yet another masterpiece of lush asceticism”, ‘Coexist’ draws from house music as well as R&B on ‘Reunion’ ‘Sunset’ and ‘Swept Away’, whilst ‘Angels’ is a perfectly distilled love song and ‘Fiction’ a bittersweet ballad.

In trying to put her finger on the essence of the album, Romy suggests; “Oil and water don’t mix, they agree to peacefully coexist. I really like that - these two simple things, oil and water, that together make something beautiful.”