The forthcoming second LP for downbeat London outfit The XX is one of the most anticipated albums of 2012, a chance for them to follow-up the intensely-acclaimed and unexpectedly-successful debut LP, XX, they dropped back in 2009.The first taste from it is the most tentative sketch: the freely administered "Open Eyes (Demo)," which lets you know its nature in titular parentheses. The rise of digitally-aided home-recording has meant the distinction between the demo and the finished product has grown far smaller, but "Open Eyes" harkens back to the cavernous divide of yore.
Where its LP successor will be electronically aided, sonically radio-ready, and recorded in an expensive studio, this demonstration version really just sounds like Romy Madley Croft caroling quietly over a few forlorn bass notes and plentiful tape-hiss.
The charm in it comes from trying to pick out what Croft is whispering amidst the hiss. It sounds like a lovesong filled with laments: "you can tell there's something wrong/I've been here, you have been gone." But all's well that ends well, and the lyrics culminate with the author finding a safe place to hang her thematic hat. "With you by my side," Croft sings, "everything'll be alright."
The XX, "Open Eyes (Demo)" (via Stereogum)
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