The xx

With their atmospheric but pulsing mix of indie pop and electronics, The xx earned a huge amount of attention right from the start of their career. The group first came together in 2005, when singer/bassist Oliver Sim and singer/guitarist Romy Madley Croft started playing together at the tender age of 15. Then guitarist/keyboardist Baria Quereshi came into the picture, with electronics mastermind Jamie "xx" Smith signing on in 2006. Released in 2009 on the Beggars Group/XL Recordings-affiliated Young Turks label, the band's self-titled debut LP took England by storm, going Platinum, hitting No. 3 on the charts, and earning lofty appraisals in the U.K. music press. Music from the album was featured in countless TV shows and elsewhere in the media. The record made a significant impact in America as well. And after The xx won the Mercury Prize for the album in 2010, their profile went through the roof. In 2012 the band released the follow-up record, Coexist, which found The xx operating as a trio, as Quereshi had been booted out of the band at the end of 2009. The album featured a more pronounced electronic/dance influence on the part of Smith, and it went to No. 1 in England and No. 5 in America. There was a five-year wait for the next record, though, and in the interim, Smith released his debut solo album, In Colour. The xx finally released I See You at the start of 2017, jumping up towards the top of the charts on both sides of the Atlantic once again, and breaking through to a bigger audience in America via a performance on "Saturday Night Live" (NBC 1975- ) shortly before the record's release.