The xx

School friends

The band formed in 2005 while the members studied at Elliott School; Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim started as a duo at 15 (Loud And Quiet has them as bandmates at 16, on the school music department's multi-track recorder), Baria Qureshi joined on keyboards and Jamie Smith followed a year later to program beats. Madley Croft and Sim had been friends since nursery school, per i-D. Caius Pawson of Young Turks signed them and the label provided a studio in Ladbroke Grove. Madley Croft cites Siouxsie and the Banshees and the Cure, Smith brought soul, hip-hop and UK dance, and i-D lists PJ Harvey, Young Marble Giants and Suicide. Their style is minimalist: echoing guitar, prominent bass, light electronic beats and dual vocals.

xx came out on August 14, 2009, won the Mercury Prize in September 2010, reached 3 in the UK and 92 on the Billboard 200, and sold about a million copies in all. Qureshi left in late 2009. Coexist (September 2012) went to number one in the UK and 5 in the US; I See You (January 13, 2017) was number one in the UK and 2 in the US. Madley Croft released Mid Air in September 2023 and Sim released Hideous Bastard in September 2022, produced by Jamie xx, whose solo debut In Colour came out in 2015. They played their first live show in eight years in Mexico City on April 3, 2026, the first of three sold-out dates, after announcing a Coachella 2026 appearance.