The xx upsize on April 2013 tour

Update: The xx have added two more show, one in Melbourne on April 5 and one in Sydney on April 6.

Following a swiftly-sold-out whistle-stop visit in 2012, slow-burning UK trio The xx will return to Australia this April to play larger venues in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. The band’s tour last July saw them playing two intimate gigs at Melbourne’s The Forum and Sydney’s Metro.

Since then Jamie Smith, Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim have released their critically acclaimed second album Coexist, which made the cut in our Albums of the Year. As our review read: “The xx use negative space like an instrument. Their second album is a paean to silence. Compressed and contracted by the most minimal of arrangements, the spaces are where you’ll find the band’s emotional secrets.”

“The studio was actually just an apartment, and we had no outside word for a long time,” Jamie xx told inthemix of the album process. “We probably spent more time on this one listening to arrangements and actually taking things out. It was just the bare minimum left in there that was needed. We’d just listen to dance music and dance quite a lot. It was only natural that it would seep into the record.”

“I think London right now I think it’s the most inspiring place to be for dance music,” Oliver Sim added in an interview with our sister site FasterLouder. “I find it very hard to keep up, it’s forever moving, evolving every day. What was two-step and garage became dubstep, post-dubstep became really housey, and now it seems like really dark techno. I find it’s really cool and I kind of just appreciate it song by song. Jamie is really good at keeping his ear to the ground and keeping up with what’s going on.”

The xx tour dates:

Tuesday, April 2 – Metro City, Perth
Thursday, April 4 – Festival Hall, Melbourne SOLD OUT
Friday, April 5 – Festival Hall, Melbourne
Saturday April 6 – Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
Sunday, April 7 – Hordern Pavilion, Sydney SOLD OUT
Tuesday, April 9 – Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, Brisbane

Tickets go on sale Tuesday, January 15 at midday AEST.