"Angels" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by The xx | ||||
from the album Coexist | ||||
Released | 17 July 2012 | |||
Format | Digital download | |||
Recorded | Our Studio, London | |||
Genre | Indie pop ambient pop | |||
Length | 2:51 | |||
Label | Young Turks | |||
Songwriter(s) |
|
|||
Producer(s) | Jamie xx | |||
The xx singles chronology | ||||
|
"Angels" is a song by English indie pop group The xx, released as a digital download on 17 July 2012 by Young Turks. It was the lead single for their 2012 album Coexist. The song was written by guitarist Romy Madley Croft, bassist Oliver Sim, and percussionist Jamie xx, who also produced it.
The xx premiered the song on 14 May 2012 at their first live show since touring in 2010. Upon its release, "Angels" received positive reviews from music critics, who commended Croft's performance and the song's minimalist musical style. The song was remixed by electronic musician Four Tet, whose version was aired on BBC Radio on 19 September.
"Angels" was recorded during the sessions for Coexist at The xx's recording studio in London. Its demo was originally recorded solely by Romy Madley Croft, who wrote the song's lyrics.Jamie xx said of the song's recording in an interview for Spin, "It took a while to work out how to arrange it for the band. The demo was quite perfect, but it was just Romy. It took the entire length of the recording process to get it right."
"Angels" is a sparsely-produced, gentle ballad about the idea of being in love. It has a measured pace and features slight vocals and whispered cadences by Croft, background baritone bass, subtle drum thuds, and coiling guitar lines.Pitchfork Media's Larry Fitzmaurice observes on the song "lots of hollow space surrounding [that] add[s] intimacy." "Angels" opens with echoey guitar and Romy's vocals, which are at the front of the mix. Eerie snare rolls appear within a minute of the song, but quickly fade away. Arnold Pan of PopMatters writes that, in the context of Coexist, the song has its "own sense of development" and "resolution". Oliver Sim said of this moment of tension in the song, "Early on, Jamie said something about the album being inspired by dance music, so everyone's expecting a house beat to drop halfway through—which is hilarious because this is not a dance record."