X & Y - Footprints

Stream Footprints here (soundcloud)
Read my review of their debut EP "Experience X" here

De La Soul once very wisely informed the world (over a delicious trip hop beat) that three is indeed the magic number. When it comes to quality pop groups du jour they could not be more correct. There are currently three members of Take That. There are now three members of Spice Girls GEM. If Big Fun were to reform there would be three of them prancing around to solid gold pop like Handful of Promises and Can't Fight The Feeling. And, surpassing them all currently thanks to their blistering new single are the three chaps that make up X & Y. Quite frankly, following their career has been a dream. They focus on compelling lyrics that eruditely put all your internal feels into sensible words. They create indelible melodies, the type that stay in your head for weeks - and even when you think they've slipped away, will come back and enrich your life when you most need it. They conjure up mesmerising scores that enhance and accentuate every lyrical moment of the songs they write, these instrumentals as much a part of the narrative as the resonant vocals. In short, they are musical magicians who clearly love what they do and seek to better themselves with each passing release. The latest, Footprints, is what I would call an absolute triumph. It takes everything that has been so edifying about their music thus far and amps it up to the nth degree. Set to an effusive percussive groove (perhaps the best since 80s smash Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now - and equally as euphoric) and surrounded by tantalising bass licks and swirling synths, this is a tale of that all-consuming desire we have to truly connect with someone we feel drawn to. Through an expressive lead vocal, Benedict breathes life into the emotions of the song and makes them spark with tangible excitement and anticipation. The effect of this is that the listener is pulled into the song and it awakens every memory you've ever had of those sizzling first touches, those love affairs where you thought your heart would explode with passion, those kisses where your mouths become so intertwined it feels like one. And this is all before that soaring chorus takes you to pop heaven - enormous sing-along refrain that is gratifying, it feels like one giant endorphin rush to the brain and just as giddying. It is an intoxicating melange of sounds that has been fused together with exquisite precision. Bravo X & Y gents - you have given us one of the songs of the summer. And - along with Bright Light Bright Light & Louisa Johnson - you surely are Britain's brightest bestest hope for the future of pop.