Jamie XX
“Loud Places” (f/ Romy Madley-Croft)
In Colour (out 06.02 on Young Turks)
Like so much of their work as the XX, “Loud Places” snared me quickly. 18 seconds to be exact. The XX’s brokenhearted first two albums have a number of lyrical gems, but the first stanza of this single is one of Croft’s best yet. “I go to loud places. / To search for someone to be quiet with, who will take me home. / You go to loud places. / To find someone who will take you higher than I took you.” Once I heard that, I was in for the ride, but unlike so much of their previous work, I was legitimately surprised where it took me.
After the downcast, decidedly XX-ian start, “Loud Places” blasts out of her lonely bedroom and on to a buoyant, ecstatic dance-floor. It’s a welcome display of power from an oft-forlorn, vulnerable voice. And when Madley-Croft gets to her last line (“You’re in ecstasy without me. / When you come down I won’t be around.”), you can’t help but want to cheer for her — like she’s your recently-single friend who’s finally moving on from her ex and making out with a random at the bar.
