The xx

I haven't hit a band like this in a world. I fell for you, xx, and I fell hard.
I mean, just listen.

http://pitchfork.com/tv/#/episode/2117-the-xx/1


Woah.
I'm seduced by them.

I strongly suggest a quick pop over to Grooveshark for a listen if one is not yet familiar with the xx.
http://listen.grooveshark.com/
Ok. Now open the shades and put your pants back on. I understand, you're confused. It's okay. It happens.
I have xx and I love it. Just love it. It's intimate. Two things really make it for me: The bassist's playing, and the female vocalist, Romy Madley Croft (she also plays guitar, I think).
The bassist, first. I don't know why, but this is the instrument that creates such a wonderful feeling of intimacy. It's small, closed in, without being claustrophobic. It's a whisper, the cue that we're going to be quiet now. (Oddly enough, for an album that feels so muted, quiet, subdued the louder you listen to the album, the more you appreciate it. Oh, and when I said it was subdued I also meant that it bristles with emotion. Yeah. It's both at the same time.)
Then. Croft's voice. Again. It's throaty, not the most beautiful in the world, but the kind that invites you to lean in a little closer for a listen. There's a great moment in "Heart Skipped a Beat" that says, really, everything I want to say about her voice. When she sings, "Heart skipped a beat, and when I caught it you were out of reach," her voice nearly cracks, like she's singing out of her range, like she's saying something that's so close to her heart she can't quite get it out - but tries, anyway. Love it.