Jamie Stewart's long-running project blends abrasive noise, folk, and industrial elements with lyrics that confront trauma and despair.
If you're new to Xiu Xiu, 'Sad Pony, Guerrilla Girl' gives you a sense of their melodic side, while 'Apistat Commander' shows how far they'll go into dark territory.
For over twenty years, Xiu Xiu has made music that refuses to look away from difficult subjects. Songs like 'I Luv The Valley, Oh!' show how they can be both melodic and unsettling, while 'Apistat Commander' from the 2014 album deals bluntly with sexual abuse over dissonant arrangements. They don't make easy listening, but they've kept at it with a steady stream of albums that challenge what pop or experimental music can address.
Xiu Xiu formed in 2002 around Jamie Stewart, who writes and sings most of the material. Their debut 'Knife Play' arrived that same year, followed by records like 'La Foret' in 2005 and 'Angel Guts: Red Classroom' in 2014. The 2019 record 'Girl with Basket of Fruit' continued their pattern of mixing accessibility with deliberate unease.
Keep it compact: a lyric you come back to, a live memory, or the part of the catalog you would point someone toward first.
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