Romy has teased that The xx’s comeback album is “feeling fresh”.
The electronic trio – completed by Jamie xx and Oliver Sim – have been back in the studio together for the first time since their 2017 LP ‘I See You’, and although it’s “early” days, the project “moves” their vision along but is still in keeping with their original sound.
Speaking to NME, Romy said of working with her bandmates again: “Yeah it’s fun, it’s quite different being in the studio with The xx.
“I think Oliver [Sim] and Jamie [xx] and I have all tried new things and learned a lot from different projects and I think that’s quite healthy to be like, ‘What have you learned? What should we do now?’”
She added: “It’s still pretty early [but] I still think you’ll be able to tell it’s us, but I think we’re excited to move it on and keep it feeling fresh.”
In October 2022, Oliver reassured fans that while they are each busy with their respective solo careers, they would eventually regroup to record new tunes.
Appearing on the Consequence’s ‘Kyle Meredith With…’ podcast, Oliver said: “The xx will always be my home and will always be my priority. And normally I wouldn’t speak for Romy [Madley Croft] and Jamie [xx], but I know they feel the same. I think all of us doing our solo projects just makes me excited. It’s like, how is this gonna change the band? What have we all learned independently? And nothing is recorded at the moment, but there is more music from The xx, definitely.”
In summer 2018, the bassist-and-vocalist gave an update on the progress of their new material.
He said: “I’ve done a lot of work with Romy in the last couple of weeks.
“I’ve done a lot of work with Jamie, but we haven’t had that moment yet of all three of us being in the room together.”
He added that they’d been working on individual projects “as if we’re making our own records”.
Away from the band, singer-and-guitarist Romy has co-written a number of tracks, including Dua Lipa and Silk City’s mega-hit ‘Electricity’, while Jamie co-wrote Florence + The Machine’s ‘Big God’ and is listed as a producer on Mark Ronson and Miley Cyrus’ ‘Nothing Breaks Like A Heart’.
Romy released her debut solo album ‘Mid Air’ to acclaim in September 2023.
Oliver released his debut album in 2022.
In 2022, Romy teamed up with Fred Again… on ‘Lights Out’, while Jamie has been touring and playing festivals.