The xx are a Mercury Prize-winning trio formed in 2005 in London, United Kingdom and signed to Young Turks. The band members are Romy Madley Croft (vocals, lead guitar), Oliver Sim (vocals, bass guitar), and Jamie Smith, known as Jamie xx (beats, MPC sampler). Second guitarist and keyboardist Baria Qureshi was dropped from the band mid-tour in 2009. The reasons behind her ousting remain unclear. On 17 August 2009, the group released their debut album xx on Young Turks label. The album was recorded in a small garage and produced by the band. It garnered critical acclaim and has been generally well-received, scoring an average of 86/100 based on 24 professional reviews. Also it ranked on "best of the year" lists with Rolling Stone placing it at #9 and NME placing it at #2. Four singles were released from their debut album: "Crystalised", "Basic Space", "Islands" and "VCR". The xx also remixed the classic song "You've Got The Love" originally written by The Source and covered by Florence + the Machine. They also added their own vocals on the song. The group won the 2010 Mercury Prize for their album on 7th September 2010. After being the bookies' favourites for many of the weeks leading up to the announcement, they beat eleven other acts. "Angels" was the first single from The xx’s second album, Coexist. It was released on July 16 2012. A second track from the album, "Chained", was released on line prior to the official Coexist launch on 11 September. In June 2014, it was revealed in an interview with Dazed that the xx were working on their third studio album, with producer Rodaidh McDonald at the Marfa Recording Company studio in Marfa, Texas. The album is said to have a "completely different concept" to the band's first two studio albums. http://thexx.info
