The xx Debut New Songs at London Gigs

It’s been nearly thee years since we’ve been treated to a new record from the xx, but the British indie rockers expect to release the followup to their self-titled 2009 debut later this year. In the meantime, they gave fans a sneak peek of what they’ve been up to in the studio by debuting some new material during a pair of shows this week in London (a third show is scheduled for tonight).

Snippets of two new songs were captured by fans and posted on YouTube — both can be seen below. In the first one, Romy Madley Croft’s vocals stretch out over hauntingly sparse guitar, bass and percussion straight from the Explosions in the Sky school of minimalism, but the clip cuts off a minute in. It sounds like the track could easily run much longer and transform into something entirely different.

The second clip runs just over two minutes, but seems to be a complete song as the crowd claps at the end. On it, Oliver Sim also also chimes in on vocals, bringing out those gorgeous dual harmonies that made the band’s first album so mesmerizing. They sing over similarly dark, moody and minimal backing parts.

Neither track really hints at the “club music” that producer Jamie Smith said the band was aiming for on the new album, but neither really last long enough to get the full picture, either. Listen below and let us know what you think.

Listen to a Brief Performance of a New xx Song

Listen to Another Brief Performance of a New xx Song