Beautiful Proportions

I've been listening to the debut album from buzz band The XX on repeat for several days now, interspersed with repeats of the song "Crystalised" (track 3 from said album). I have a healthy appetite for obsession yes, but there's just something so very special about this record. The music is not particularly complex, but it is well-written, and extremely well-crafted. It is earnest and heartfelt without being cheesy or angsty, it is beautiful and melodic, but oh so measured and restrained. There's also a hint of this thing that I often find annoying in some tunes, where a part of a melodic phrase sounds like something else, but then goes somewhere else instead of giving you what you expect. This is most likely unintentional, but it adds this absorbing quality for me. As I mentioned in a previous post, word is out that Baria Qureshi has left the band citing "exhaustion", leaving the trio to finish what looks to be a very serious tour through Spring 2010. I will endeavor to catch them supporting Friendly Fires at the Henry Fonda here in LA at the end of the week. In case I didn't make my point clearly: buy this record - buy it, own it, love it...