The XX – On hold (Starters for Ten #227) 7.10.23

Starters for Ten 2019 – #227: Top Ten 2017 tracks: 190815

The XX – On Hold (2017)

Throughout 2019 Jem of Jemtunes is taking you through 36 top tens and one top five. Tunes for a whole gamut of reasons including genre, mood, time of year or simply time itself. Sometimes there’s be words but mostly it’ll simply be the music. Because music always speaks for itself.

Continuing the 23rd – running between 9 and 18 August and featuring my top ten tracks from 2017 – here’s On Hold from the third studio album by The XX –  I See You –  released on 13 January 2017 on the Young Turks record label. It was the band’s first release in more than four years, following their 2012 album Coexist.

The xx began recording I See You in 2014 at Marfa Recording Co. in Marfa, Texas, and were assisted by producer Rodaidh McDonald. They had a more progressive, wide-ranging musical concept in mind, compared to their previous two albums. Jamie xx, the band’s multi-instrumentalist and producer, said the album’s sound and aesthetic were influenced by his 2015 club-influenced solo recording, ‘In Colour’.

‘I See You’ was released to widespread critical acclaim, with many reviewers finding its music less insular than the xx’s previous recordings. It became the band’s second number-one album in the United Kingdom and an international top-ten chart success. To promote the album, four songs were released as singles, including “On Hold”, while the xx embarked on the European I See You Tour and subsequent concerts in the Americas.