In 2015, Jamie xx had reached the peak of his career. His band The xx had become a touchstone for lovers of hybrid pop, and he had won success with his most prestigious project, the remix of Gil Scott Heron's final album, We're New here. That's not to say that his first (and in 2020, still the only) solo album was expected. And the English musician brilliantly met expectations by delivering one of the best albums of the year. In Colour, in addition to summing up the Zeitgeist of 2015, was also an authentically British record, with the broth of cultures that overflow on every track, from the opener, Gosh, which samples both the vocals of MC Strings on an old jungle track from 1995 and the drums of Lyn Collins' Think (About It), for an undefinable but formidable track, as well as the awesome Sleep Sound, somewhere between Burial and Four Tet, with little bits of Alicia Keys thrown in. Another great moment of the album: the hit I Know there's Gonna Be (Good Times), which highlights American rapper Young Thug and Jamaican star Popcaan, which would go on to record many international features after this success. And a perfect ending, with Girl, which borrows from Arthur Baker (the chorus "I want your love" from Freeez's super-80s hit I. O. U.), The Beach Boys and Erlend Øye's band, The Whitest Boy Alive. Quite a symbol. © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz

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Debuts as fully formed and confident as the xx's self-titled first album are rare, but then, there is very little that is typical about this band or their music. Their influences are wide-ranging -- traces of post-punk, dream pop, dubstep, indie pop, and R&B pop up at any given moment -- but are focused into songs that are as simple as they are unique and mysterious. These tracks are so sleek, they're practically sculptural, and they boast impeccably groomed arrangements. The beats pulse rather than crash; the guitars are artfully picked and plucked; and the vocals rarely rise above a wistful sigh. This restraint and sophistication make the fact that the xx's members were barely in their twenties when they recorded the album all the more impressive; artists twice their age would be proud to call the maturity and confidence that flow seemingly effortlessly through the xx their own. Even their song titles are the perfect mix of concise and evocative: "Stars," "Shelter," "Night Time" (actually, all of their songs could be named this -- they're that intimate and sleepily cool). The moody, monochromatic sound the xx sets forth on "Intro" is lovely enough, but it's how the band subtly shifts and tweaks it on each track that makes the album truly special. "VCR"'s innocent guitars hint at the band's fondness for Young Marble Giants' radically simple indie pop, while "Infinity" leans more heavily on their post-punk roots, and "Heart Skips a Beat" underscores its name with wittily fractured rhythms. And while singers Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim sound good on their solo turns (Sim particularly shines on the spacious "Fantasy"), together they're truly inspired -- the aloof sensuality they generate makes romantic intrigue actually intriguing again. "Crystalised" might be one of the more intense songs here, but it still carries the confessional quality of a conversation between lovers, reaffirming what "heart-to-heart" really means. The standout "Basic Space" takes Croft and Sim's push-pull chemistry in an even more pop direction, but it's still awash in subtly fascinating details like its exotically rolling beat and Durutti Column-esque guitars. While the band's subtlety and consistency threaten to work against them at times, XX is still a remarkable debut that rewards repeated listens and leaves listeners wanting more.© Heather Phares /TiVo

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Hot on the heels of third studio album Mama's Boy (and its February 2021 deluxe treatment), LANY released their fourth full-length LP, gg bb xx, on Polydor Records in late 2021. Framed around the idea of "micro-moments", the album sees the group develop and expand on smaller concepts typically dismissed by industry collaborators. In the words of frontman Paul Klein, to "take what might be considered inconsequential, and to make it magical."© David Crone /TiVo