Many bands, on entering the studio, can't resist the opportunity to throw in the kitchen sink. So they smother their recordings with brass parts, keyboard stabs, mechanical gnomes and anything else to hand. Which makes the xx so refreshing. At 19, the London band understand the importance of space. Every big Glasvegas guitar riff, Joy Division bassline or snappy electronic handclap is there because it needs to be. Childhood friends Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sims's spoken vocals have a conversational style that makes for a close-knit, almost disturbingly intimate listen that's somehow simultaneously joyful and melancholy. Shelter is vaguely reminiscent of Chris Isaaks's Wicked Game and the mood is similar to Chairlift, but otherwise the xx's debut seems to have arrived out of nowhere, as did Arcade Fire's debut. It's difficult to imagine 'xx' having quite the seismic impact of that opus, but the album will win many friends for its beautifully haunting, understated charms.