| | Full Review | Ratings (377) |
Give your Rating |
| 2.3 average | Erwann S. EMERITUS | September 14th 23 |
While Coexist saw the band favour Jamie XX's production over pop hooks, I See You isn't even remotely interesting sonically to save it from its bland songwriting.
Bump |
| 3.0 good | TheManMachine | January 31st 17 |
A bit more in the way of beat-bulk is welcomed here, finding a sweet spot in between their matter-of-course cool-pop minimalism and the more dance-club ready efforts from the beat boy's recent rainbow-clad solo record. And though they still surely showcase knacks for mood+simplicity and manage a few genuine gems, this middle ground has 'em losing some distinction; vocal dueling once seducing and tired kinda gone just tired. They never repeat the iffy generics of opener "Dangerous", but more often than not plainness eclipses their enticement. My Not of choice that's also the easiest being "I Dare You", Not of choice that's also the dreamiest being "Replica" -- so it should be no surprise when I think there's more flops amid the less lively.
Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | Malcontent | January 21st 17 |
Outside of Jamie XX's influence, The XX bring nothing new to the table with this album. However, Jamie's samples, rhythms, and incredibly mixing make "I See You" a real pleasure. It's wonderful how much brighter and engaging The XX sound with his touch. From the opening horns on "Dangerous" to the trembling, swelling beats on "A Violent Noise," his work is the perfect compliment to Romy and Oliver's dreamy, dreary vocals. Their vocals have barely changed since their debut album, but the production brings out their best. Oliver and Romy sound wonderful on "Replica" and "Performance," respectively. At the core, this is still The XX, just with vastly improved production and a few more samples in their repertoire.
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| 2.5 average | notkanyewest | January 18th 17 |
So much has been made of this record's relationship to Jamie xx's work, and for good reason- there
are songs here that are obviously more poppy, sample driven, and that seem to have analogues to
tracks from the (really great) record IN COLOUR. But the narrative is that I think has gotten lost is,
what happened to the band we heard on their first record? There's mopey, minimal, relationship-
driven music here, but it sounds more in line with the yawn-inducing sounds of COEXIST than the
songs on XX, which drew from a wide range of influences, had interesting lyrics and melodies. The
poppy stuff is better, but never reaches the transcendent highs of Jamie's solo work. If this is a
forward looking album, maybe they need to reflect a bit before they start on the next one.
Bump |
| 4.5 superb | cavalrycaptain | January 14th 17 |
A beautiful and uneasy album of distortions. From the detuned strings in "Performance" to the warbling theremin in "Test Me" and even the chrome artwork which distorts the light and images around it, this is a haunting and beautiful work that brings out the best of the band. Jamie xx's production shines, especially in the sample-based songs. "Lips" is an obvious standout, sounding like a tropical-house version of the Bangles. If anything, this is music to be felt rather than analyzed. Pure magic.
Bump |
| 0.0 | former sputnik's home post-punk maester | January 14th 17 |
The xx came through with an album of decent tunes. However, this album is definitely not as atmospheric or echoic as some of their previous work. They rely on catchiness (that mostly isn't even there), which causes them to lay much less effort into other album aspects, like lyrics. Lyrics on this album are by far some of their most cringeworthy and straight forwardly trivial. In the end, this record is a dud. The xx failed to create anything remotely memorable and the lack of lyrical momentum and vocal range, which could have come as a saving grace on almost every track) leave the album sounding flat and tedious (like the track Performance...pure boredom). I mean, even the highlights of this album are subpar compared to even the XX's previous work.
Bump |
| 3.5 great | CRX | November 14th 25 |
| 4.0 excellent | Matty CONTRIBUTOR | May 21st 25 |
| 3.5 great | bnest | September 24th 24 |
| 3.0 good | durkl | September 20th 24 |
| 2.5 average | doofy | January 9th 24 |
| 3.5 great | rchyuan | September 24th 22 |
| 3.5 great | Jrzg85 | February 9th 22 |
| 3.0 good | aroge | November 2nd 21 |
| 3.0 good | Aszhi | September 3rd 20 |
| 4.5 superb | Murat | July 16th 20 |
| 3.5 great | Sowing STAFF | June 15th 20 |
| 2.5 average | Prole | January 16th 20 |
| 4.5 superb | CPCP | November 6th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | alamo | November 3rd 19 |
| 3.0 good | JNeu | October 19th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | grello | July 21st 19 |
| 3.5 great | fog | May 23rd 19 |
| 3.5 great | Uzumaki | February 25th 19 |
| 2.5 average | ds44445 | December 24th 18 |
| 2.5 average | Akifexx | October 16th 18 |
| 3.5 great | Alexxx | September 29th 18 |
| 3.5 great | Juca89 | September 6th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Revarf | July 28th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Miguee7 | June 26th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | kylerez | April 10th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | chayka | January 13th 18 |
| 3.5 great | PaabL | December 13th 17 |
| 2.5 average | Rdv | December 9th 17 |
| 2.5 average | Stain95 | December 3rd 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | Screamau | November 13th 17 |
| 3.0 good | doqtor | November 12th 17 |
| 3.5 great | Jan555 | October 6th 17 |
| 3.5 great | YayoG1 | October 5th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | Dunnus | October 1st 17 |
| 3.5 great | Gueero | September 26th 17 |
| 3.5 great | Kiran EMERITUS | September 20th 17 |
| 3.0 good | wangz | August 31st 17 |
| 3.0 good | wg98 | August 20th 17 |
| 3.5 great | Lassie | July 14th 17 |
| 2.5 average | aiioli | May 27th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | F1Aaron | April 20th 17 |
| 2.5 average | ILJ | April 18th 17 |
| 3.5 great | Moraff | April 9th 17 |
| 3.5 great | chris. | April 1st 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | egadsby | March 24th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | BHAR | March 24th 17 |
| 2.5 average | Hyndez | March 7th 17 |
| 2.0 poor | Jade | February 21st 17 |
| 3.5 great | Rail | February 19th 17 |
| 3.5 great | Cayit | February 14th 17 |
| 3.0 good | Krvst | February 12th 17 |
| 3.5 great | nch223 | February 10th 17 |
| 2.5 average | BoJean | February 8th 17 |
| 3.0 good | Mojito | February 2nd 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | Irving EMERITUS | January 31st 17 |
| 3.0 good | Skoj | January 27th 17 |
| 2.5 average | El Olam | January 23rd 17 |
| 3.5 great | Greem | January 22nd 17 |
| 4.5 superb | mitch91 | January 21st 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | Sebe | January 20th 17 |
| 2.5 average | Zeneren | January 19th 17 |
| 3.0 good | helti | January 19th 17 |
| 4.5 superb | artyzmu | January 18th 17 |
| 3.0 good | jesper EMERITUS | January 17th 17 |
| 3.0 good | Yotimi | January 17th 17 |
| 3.0 good | JWT155 | January 17th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | cvlts | January 16th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | bqr7 | January 16th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | Ebola | January 15th 17 |
| 2.5 average | Rizzo44 | January 15th 17 |
| 3.5 great | ZBJE | January 15th 17 |
| 2.5 average | matzo | January 14th 17 |
| 4.5 superb | M1CH03L | January 14th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | Juanpa | January 13th 17 |
| 2.5 average | anat | January 13th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | hep | January 13th 17 |
| 2.5 average | Handers | January 13th 17 |
| 4.5 superb | Bozilla | January 13th 17 |
| 2.5 average | kuzronk | January 13th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | Faraudo | January 13th 17 |
| 3.6 great | Rudy K. EMERITUS | January 13th 17 |
| 3.5 great | iGuter | January 12th 17 |
| 4.5 superb | fdrc | January 12th 17 |
| 3.5 great | Nrap | January 12th 17 |
| 3.0 good | cm7com | January 12th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | Elvis | January 2nd 17 |
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