This album has to be one of my all time favourites.

I was lucky enough to see them preform live in 2013 and they done every song justice.

Can't recommend it highly enough!

Simply Amazing, Works of art

This album is nice and chilled. Im a big fan

I loved the xx the minute I heard intro. I'm sick to death of R&B, and pretty much what else is out there.. I'm loving the alternative.. And I love this album :)

There are no words. Intro and Island are my favourite x

Amazing!! Cannot listen to this album enough x

Years after it's release and it still triumphs over all my albums. Amazing. Minimalistic yet layered and intricate. It's simply perfection in my eyes.

This is easily my favourite album. I have listened to it countless times - every day, in fact, and yet I never get bored. Yes, all the songs sound slightly similar but it's not a problem as it just means 45 minutes of perfection. Thank you XX!

I find the beats and sounds in this album beautiful, and they truly inspire me for my art :) I would highly recommend buying this album.

Late 5* review that i felt this album deserved. (Quick heads up, this album is a million times better than their second)

Listened to this when it was first released, loved it then and still in love with it now

All tracks are brilliant, totally worth buying!

Wow, great buy

Chilled and an easy listen

XX is one of the best tracks I've ever heard, I could listen to that all day. Talented kids the Turks.

I stumbled across this band accidentally whilst searching for another song! Ever since that I have loved them, I love their style of music.

Yeah, if I was stuck on a desert island I'd take this album and some rap ones, but this was released like... Three years ago? How come the price hasn't been reduced like Coexist??

I mean, it's not really a problem for me, I have the album, but still...

From the minute this album hits your ears you know you are going to like it, Intro gives that scary ambient feel, highly recommended album. Chill and buy.

I was slightly put off by some of the other reviews but in only having discovered this band recently I decided to purchase the album and was pleasantly surprised. I love it!! Their chilled back music is perfect to wind down to.

I appreciate good music and I am all about trying new music out, but this….as much as some songs like 'Intro' and 'Island" are pretty good…it's very slow and it can send you to sleep. I can see what the kids are trying to do I can, but just not for me ears, if you here for something up beat please don't bother, but if you want some 'modern' chill out give them ago.

Bought this album about a year ago or more, it's amazing and well worth the money, great first album from my favourite band and every song is perfect.

The most perfect album ever

Pure chill out album. Amazing

This album, this band, has been with me for many years now, in some way or other, but never as a whole. Ever since I heard islands for the first time, I knew I would be listening to this band for the rest of my life. Today, ten minutes ago, I finally downloaded xx, totally and utterly concreting that knowledge. This album is without a doubt one of, if not the best album I have ever listened to. Its beats and vocals flow, curve and flick, driving right through with an ecstatic hammer blow. The viscous, twanging vibrations of the guitar harmonising with the voices creates a world like no other, an illusion that tingles up your spine and straight, it seems, through your soul. Each song is different, just unique enough to keep you surprised and eager for the next intro. But all of them seem to flow, collide with each other, so that, when you really listen to them, you realise they are some how one, divine, piercing anthem. This is what music is for.

One of the best albums I own! A must have!

Chilled. Tuneful. Great listening!

perfect album.

i think the xx are incredible. their album is meant to be not only chilled but with the occasional ''epic'' moment (intro=awesome). i highly recommend seeing them live as well as they make it very special and cool.

Some songs are nice but the only song with any emotion to the music is the intro, the rest is a bit boring to be frank

Amazing

I bought this album when it first came out due to good 'ole' Zane Lowe. It is by far my favourite album of all time. Words cannot describe how good it is/ they are!

The first half of the album is brilliant. It's mellow and relaxing, but with enough rhythm to make it really interesting. Though after Islands, it starts going down hill. For about three songs, it just seems really lazy and empty. Thankfully, it picks back up towards the end.

I'd say it's worth a buying the tracks that sound appealing from the previews, since each song is internally consistent. My personal favourites are Intro, Crystallise and Island.

AMAZING love it. 'shelter' is great and so is the rest

iTunes does not deserve this quality of music, buy a turntable, go to Rough Trade and buy the vinyl. Only then can you appreciate this kind of music!

This could have landed even more beautifully if it wasn't hyped up ridiculously. The hype caused people to treat them like a sort of 1 album wonder, a hype they many never be able to regain, but you never know, we'll have to see.

Best album I've bought this year. I'd pay double.

Just Amazing

Only discovered the xx and are about to release their second album. Just can't stop listening to it everything but the girl are my fav band and this is just so good Tracey thorn has even covered on of their songs. Intro VCR crystallised islands and shelter stand out :)

This album is the only one i have played in my car for the last year. ... yes it is THAT good .

It's relaxing haunting and brilliant

Love it and waiting for the next album .

It's different from all the dance garbage you hear on the radio - the first time I heard this was on a school trip in Greece, and it was night time, and this album sounded amazing. Every song is chilled out and unique. Buy it and you won't regret it.

P.S to the guy who said no one would be coming back to it, I still listen to it and it's the middle of 2012

This is an outstanding album, it's a little annoying that the intro is the bst song

U

For some reason all the songs tug on my heart strings.. But in a very good, strange kind of way.

I was in two minds buying the album, so instead i bought just the intro - it's SO good!

Awesome!

It's calming yet uplifting, pure yet warped, relaxing yet tense. Turn it up loud and let it do it's thing. It's class

I agree with both arguments,not the best album ever,but still very easy listening. Worked a treat for me in Afghan,but not ideal for getting ready on a Friday night. Would still recommend it!

Sink in to this album

Bought the intro track a year ago after hearing it on a tv program, but didn't buy the album until now. It's really quite amazing. If you like the previews you'll love the full album. It's very slow tempo so if you can't deal with chilling out, don't bother.

if you want your mind and ears to be blown listen to this album it is perfection!

This is by far the best album I have ever owned/downloaded FACT! You won't be disappointed. Best 6.99 I've ever spent. I LOVE THE XX!!

This sends shivers down my spine; it's really that good.

Reading that comment made my day. Absolute genius. Xx is ok, bit too Hoxton, if u get me blad!!?

this album is just absolutely beautiful

Superb havent heard anything this good or unique for a long time. The soundtrack to my summer just perfect!

So my music taste consists of the likes of Lady GaGa, MIA, Eliza Doolittle, Marina and the Diamonds etc etc you get the point, never usually listen to any music like this but I couldn't resist Islands when I heard it on the radio. Listened to all the previews of the tracks on iTunes and to be honest it sounded really dull but I was so wrong! Every single track on the album is so different yet has the amazing charm that just oozes throughout the whole album. Really should listen to it at least once and then you won't be able to resist! Hope they get more recognition for how good they really are!

And people writing 1 star reviews are just pathetic.

Just preview all the songs...they are all the same and the singers sound like they are on their deathbeads!

I can't understand what all of the fuss is about this album. Upon first listening, I thought some of the songs may grow on me but I was very wrong, I found that I disliked it even more on second listening because I was becoming even more bitter that they won an award for this when there was several incredibly worthy nominees up for it. All of the songs sound very, very similar, with similiar beats and a complete lack of emotion in the singer's voices in all of the songs. I quite hope they come up with a follow up album to this which also sounds they same, because then people will realise that they are, in fact, not very good at all.

I am truly miffed.

Quite how The XX are Mercury Prize Winners is - well, simply baffling.

Without predjudice or agena, I ask: is it possible to like an album less than this soporific, empty, vacuous, vaguely and postured affair? An album of, essentially nothingness?

Having made the mistake of buying this album before the awards were meted out, I find this all-too-long player: woefully weak on melody, and where good songwriting and hooks live in absentia, put simply, this album is staggeringly average. And whoever dished out the awards, ought to take another long hard listen and what amounts to an album of nothingness. It's that bad that after a few listens, the CD lies somewhere on the hardshoulder of the M3.

If you are expecting an album replete with some of the best British songwriting, you may be solely disappointed. I have no agenda in saying this other than to put some perspective in what is, in my HUMBLE view, distortionate praise for an album who’s "atmosphere" is as weak as a wake.

Just my opinion, I may be wrong. I hope others find mellifluous joy where I, personally, found none.

F4plc got it spot on!

Saves me having to type it too! Every song sounds the same, the problem is that this makes the album consistently rubbish all the way through!

No offense intended to anyone who has already left ratings for this but seriously... people!! What on earth? This is the SINGLE BIGGEST example in modern history where something TRENDY has been bigged up by so many it even wins a prize!! For one... they can not sing. Two... the songs ALL sound the same. Three...its dull and boring. And i could probably think of more if i could be bothered. My comiserations to Biffy, one million times better album beaten by this garbage.

I find everything about the xx so boring and gimmicky. The music is dull, the vocals annoying, the songs boring. Its like the two singers are having a competition of who can sound the most irritating. I'd say the man is winning. But the woman makes me want to kill myself anyway. And all the promotion is so gimmicky. WOW - look how simplistic it all is! A white x on a black bakground, INCREDIBLE! incredibly pretentious and beyond annoying, thats what it is. Please go away xx, I know you have a big following but you're just so irritating I am on the brink of suicide.

Not only does this album consist of the most breathtaking music my young(ish) ears have been gifted to this year but possibly ever. My brother mentioned this band to me a while back and I have now had the album for a few months during which I have predominantly listened to the XX over all my other music. Its laid-back, simplistic tone is the sort of thing I love and so I recommend this to all, give it a shot, the chances of you not liking it are very slim to say the least.

This music is so boring and dull, how can this be good to listen to?

I don't usually write reviews for iTunes, but this album simply blew me away. Every song is great and different in a away which is very rare nowadays. Music for any ages, my favourite songs being 'Night time' and 'Heart skipped a beat', but you could pick any song, they're all fantastic.

Droney in a New Orderish way only more tuneless and sanitised. Her "oh so sexy" breathy vocals wear thin very quickly and the whole thing seems to have only one gear.

This is a 21stC Everything But The Girl appreciated by young couples who love Ikea.

Yaaaawwn.

Heard all the hype around this band, but...benefit of the doubt and all that! SO glad I did. WHAT an album, delicate, sensual, sounds like it was recorded in shadows. It's beautiful. Buy it. You won't regret it!

I bought this album earlier in the year and it has soundtracked pretty much every moment since then. The mix of male and female vocals over the stunning melodies is hauntingly beautiful, and I'd tip them for the mercury prize. A must have for any music lover!

This album is very boring as not much at all happens, but it is perfect if u want to be sent drifting off into a deep sleep.

I love love love the intro heard it on the election adverts an I have been hunting it down Since. Well worth it turns out there album I'd amazing too

Beautiful, atmospheric, haunting, melancholic, low key and well worth £10 let alone £5.99 here. I've been playing it on loop constantly and I'm not tiring of it after a month.

as the urban night begins to darken and the city lights up in neon signs so this album becomes its soundtrack. Two lovers entwined in a tower block flat, the old man wishes his life had turned out different as he sits in the corner of an empty pub, boys run in the street shouting at eachother, teenage girls gather around a bedroom choosing what to wear to the club tonight, cars drive into the distant.....

It is about the city and the joy and the heartbreak it brings to us.

I have recently collected a few new albums as recommended by a 'young' TV reviewer. This was 1 of 5 and it stands out head and shoulders above the rest. I have given them all a background listening but The Xx just has to be played and listened to time and time again. It is not often anything besides a lost 'oldie' grabs this kind of attention from me. I will be waiting for more of The xx.

the entire album is a amazing mixture of relaxed and mellow music. Two voices, Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim in perfect harmony with each other. Simply beautiful music to listen to. Somthing different to usual everyday music, Love it, one of the best albums of 2009 in my own opinion.

This album is simply awesome, standing out from the rest of the current indie scene. The xx cleverly use negative space in their songs to create a quiet, cool, relaxed, yet spooky atmosphere to keep you hooked. My only problem is, is that their is a fine line between 'less is more', and 'less is less'. A couple songs such as Shelter and Stars use minimal percussion, which can make the album hard to listen to at times. But that's just probably me! Really, it's a great album 100% worth listening to and loving. Beautiful.

nice

Not since Portishead's 1994 album Dummy have I heard an debut album so beautiful.

Subtle. Simple. Sensual. Perfect.

seen them at the florance gig in glasgow on tue night got the album next day one word magic

I like how its different and how the music and vocals work together really well...

CRYSTALISED is a great song.

A school that is under special measures but manages to produce credible musicians must be doing something right.Brilliant, i'd give them a mercury prize no question about it.

After discovering these bunch of bohemians a week or so ago it seems the allure of them doesn't stop.

Their moody and atmospheric style can leave you drifting into a world of introspection, where things appear clear, if even for a moment. The hypnotic vocals in 'Crystalised' suit the love-loss lyrics, cleverly overlapping those lyrics in the climax of the song, posing an argument coming to its end. Subtle use of progressive sounding guitars and electronic drums keep the foursome's sound current and catchy. XX's retro version of 'Teardrops' echoes the sultry sounds of the 1980's and gives the original good competition. And the song that lured me to their south London sounds is 'Islands'. The male vocalist sounds like Ben Harper and looks like Eminem - a strange mix that is mirrored in the sound. This more upbeat track has a cool and funky edge to it, ambient with attitude all at the same time. The album follows suit, detailed, jazzy and poignant.

All in all, the XX sound is one not to be missed this year and maybe many to come.

If you buy one album this year, please make sure you buy this one. Like nothing you've ever heard before. Outstanding in beauty and simplicity, Thank you The XX for making my 2009.

I'd give this 3.5 stars. There are some really good tracks here like Islands and Shelter, but the album did sag for me at times. They sound like a Mellow Birds version of The Kills, but without anything approaching a masterful tune like Black Balloon. Worth checking out if you're a fan of laid-back indie folk stuff, girl/boy vocals with a little bit of a dancey groove thrown in now and again.

It's good. But it's not the five star masterpiece most of these knee jerk reviews would have you believe.. The middle of the album is virtually tune free. I doubt it'll be an album anyone will be returning to in 2010.

I saw Crystalised on the free single of the week, Usually i hate the free singles but it was so good i had to buy the whole Album!

They defy the laws of slow music, One for the Ages ... I can't believe theyre not more heard of :)

Buy It and you won't be dissapointed :)

I stumbled across this little jem. I can say normally this kind of music is something i'd avoid, but the mix by this band is brilliant. I can't stop listening to the album, almost hypnotic vocals. Well worth the coin.

Ive been looking for something new for a while now, something a bit different. Trust me ive found it and its great. This whole album has something for everyone. A must buy for any music lover!!

Absolutely cracking! I particularly liked Infinity and Stars, two slow-burning classics

I absolutely adore this album and have not been able to stop listening to it. It combines all my music loves in one unique sound. Love the vocals. Completely addictive.

a stroke of genuis and a breath of fresh air.....dont miss out

Freaking love it, do not hesitate to buy this. Imagine acoustic Ting Tings but sooo much better. Mellow, unique, chilled, perfect come down album, perfect lying on beach album, just perfect. Not a dance beat in sight just pure loveliness, only gripe is that there isn't more

I saw the album cover and just got a funny feeling. I've heard nothing of them but gave it a click. One song was free and the next day I was buying it in a record store in Brighton. The girl behind the counter said that the band were playing there live on Thursday. You know where I'll be.

This album is near enough unique. The vocals, simple bass and timing is perfection. Download it - Love it - Buy it - Treasure it. I'd pay for it twice. Well Done! ^_^

Sensational blend of sensual boy/girl vocals and the gentle ambience of melodic strings. A masterpiece of an album, every track is sumptuous and thought-provoking.

This album is absolutley gorgeous! Buy it, it'll be one of the best album's which you've bought all year, I promise!

I enjoyed listening to every track no need to fast forward any, well cool especially the female vocals, She Rocks.

Well done 10 out o 10