I See You (The xx album)

I See You
Cover art for digital versions
Studio album by The xx
Released	13 January 2017 (2017-01-13)
Recorded	March 2014 – August 2016
Studio	Various Park Avenue Armory (New York, New York) XL Studio (New York, New York) Marfa Recording Co. (Marfa, Texas) Greenhouse Studios (Reykjavík, Iceland) Perfect Sound Studios (Los Angeles, California) The Church (London, England) The Pool (London, England) The Square (London, England) Fortress Studios (London, England) RAK Studios (London, England)
Genre	Indie rock dream pop alternative dance
Length	39:15
Label	Young Turks
Producer	Jamie Smith Rodaidh McDonald
The xx chronology
Coexist (2012) I See You (2017)
Singles from I See You
"On Hold" Released: 10 November 2016 "Say Something Loving" Released: 1 January 2017

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.8/10
Metacritic	85/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The A.V. Club	A−
Entertainment Weekly	A−
The Guardian
The Independent
NME
Pitchfork	8.4/10
Q
Rolling Stone
USA Today

I See You is the third studio album by English indie pop band the xx. It was released worldwide on 13 January 2017 through the Young Turks label. It is the follow-up to Coexist, and is their first release in more than four years.

The band announced the album while announcing frequent collaborator Rodaidh McDonald for its production and reportedly working on it in May 2014. Group member Jamie Smith released his solo debut In Colour in May 2015 and reflected that it would influence the sound and aesthetic of I See You.

The xx has stated that the record has a more distinctive sound and a more positive, open and "expansive" concept than the previous two albums. The lead single, "On Hold", was released on 12 November 2016. I See You received widespread acclaim from critics and became the band's second number-one album in the United Kingdom.

The xx announced in May 2014 that they were working on their third studio album with producer Rodaidh McDonald at Marfa Recording Co., a recording studio in Marfa, Texas. According to Mixmag journalist Stephen Worthy, a "watershed" moment had occurred immediately before recording commenced when during a series of New York concerts, the trio—Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim, and Jamie Smith—"barely made eye contact with their audience. It was their way of saying goodbye to the old xx". While working on I See You, Croft enrolled in a songwriting course in California, Sim modeled for Christian Dior SE, and Smith released a solo album, 2015's In Colour.

Smith, the xx's producer and multi-instrumentalist, stated that In Colour "definitely informed what we're doing" for I See You, while the band said the record would have a "completely different concept" from their first two albums. They also said the album would sound "more outward-looking, open and expansive".I See You was described by AnyDecentMusic? as an album of indie rock and dream pop music, while Matt Hobbs from God Is in the TV said the xx expanded on the dance portion of their usual fusion of indie and alternative dance sounds. According to Pitchfork's November 2016 update on the album, I See You was ultimately recorded between March 2014 and August 2016 at studios in Marfa, New York City, Los Angeles, London, and Reykjavík.