page_title: The xx
section_title: 2009–2011: xx and Qureshi's departure
hierarchical_section_title: The xx / History / 2009–2011: xx and Qureshi's departure
caption_attribution_description: English: The xx play live at La Casa 139, Milan, Italy on 18 October 2009.
context_page_description: The xx are an English indie pop band from Wandsworth, London, formed in 2005. The band consists of Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim, Jamie Smith, also known as Jamie xx, and formerly Baria Qureshi. They are known for their distinct and minimalist sound that blends indie pop, indie electronic, indie rock, dream pop and electro-rock and the dual vocalist setup of both Croft and Sim. Their music employs soft, echoed guitar, prominent bass, light electronic beats and ambient soundscape backgrounds.
  The band was formed when Croft and Sim met during their time at Elliott School, with Baria Qureshi joining the same year and Smith a year later. After posting demos on their Myspace page, they drew the attention of the Beggars Group-owned label Young Turks. Working with producer Rodaidh McDonald, the band released their debut album, xx, in August 2009. The album was a commercial and critical success, reaching number three on the UK Albums Chart, ranking first for The Guardian's and second for NME's best of the year lists among others, and winning the Mercury Prize in 2010.
context_section_description: The xx's debut album xx was released on 14 August 2009 through the British independent record label Young Turks,
  and was met with critical acclaim. The album ranked on best of the year lists, ranking ninth on the Rolling Stone list and second for NME. In the 2009 NME The Future 50 list, the xx was positioned at number six, and in October 2009, it was named one of MTV Iggy's "Top 10 Bands with Buzz" (at the CMJ Music Marathon 2009). "Crystalised" was featured on iTunes (UK) as Single of the Week, starting from 18 August 2009.
  Though the band had previously worked with producers including Diplo and Kwes, Smith produced xx and co-mixed with Rodaidh McDonald. The xx recorded its first album in a small garage that was part of the XL Recordings studio, often at night, which contributed to the low, whispery nature of the album.
  In August 2009, the band headlined its own concert tour. The xx has toured with artists including Friendly Fires, The Big Pink, and Micachu. In January 2010, Matt Groening chose the band to play at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival which he curated in Minehead, England. In addition, the band played at five music festivals in the United States, Coachella, Sasquatch, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits.
  In late 2009, second guitarist and keyboardist Baria Qureshi left the group. Initial reports stated that this was due to exhaustion, but Oliver Sim later said that the rest of the band had made this decision: "Also to be fair to her, people have an idea about that she left the band. She didn't. It was a decision that me, Romy, and Jamie made. And it had to happen."
  The music of its debut album was used extensively on television and in the media, such as 24/7, Person of Interest, NBC's coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games; during the series Cold Case, Suits, Mercy, the Greek version of Next Top Model, Bedlam, Hung, 90210, as well as being the feature song for the March 2010 E4 advert for 90210, Misfits, the Karl Lagerfeld fall/winter 2011 fashion show, Waterloo Road, and the film I Am Number Four. In May 2010, the track "Intro" was used by the BBC in its coverage of the 2010 general election. This led to the band playing the track on an episode of Newsnight. The track was also played before the UEFA Euro 2012 and UEFA Euro 2016 matches at stadiums in Poland, Ukraine, and France and featured during the end of Top Gear season 19 episode 6 "Africa Special Part 1". Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and Sander van Doorn's 2012 single "Project T", which launched the Tomorrowland 2012 aftermovie, contains samples from "Intro"; van Doorn had earlier released a remix of the song in 2010. The song was also sampled in Rihanna's "Drunk on Love" from her album Talk That Talk and was featured in the films It's Kind of a Funny Story and Project X.
  In September 2010, xx won the Mercury Prize. After the live ceremony screening, the album jumped from 16 to 3 on 12 September UK album chart, accompanying a 269% sales increase. XL's marketing campaign drastically expanded after this substantial win, with day-time TV advertisements and billboard campaigns on some of the UK's highest-profile digital billboards. Thanks to the highlighted publicity, XL Recordings says that it shipped more than 40,000 CDs in the days following the Mercury Prize. XL managing director Ben Beardsworth explained, "Thanks to the Mercury win... things are accelerating dramatically and the band will be reaching a bigger and bigger audience with their music." In another promotional initiative, the label sent out Saam Farahmand's audio/visual sculpture of the album when the band toured at Bestival 2010, as well as to an event at Seoul.
  The xx was nominated for 'Best British Album', 'Best British Breakthrough' and 'Best British Band' at the 2011 BRIT Awards held on 15 February 2011 at the O2 Arena in London, although it did not win in any of the categories.
caption: The original line-up performing in October 2009.
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