It is a strange piece of music. No lyrics. No big drop. Just two minutes and eight seconds of a pulsating, muffled beat and a guitar line that feels like it’s echoing through an empty London street at 3:00 AM. When The Intro by The xx first landed in 2009, nobody expected it to become the definitive sound of a decade. It wasn't just a song; it was a mood. It was the sound of anticipation.
If you were alive and semi-conscious during the early 2010s, you heard it everywhere. It soundtracked Olympic highlights, high-end fashion commercials, and thousands of "aesthetic" YouTube vlogs. But why? Honestly, it’s kinda weird that a minimalist instrumental from three awkward teenagers from South West London became a global anthem. Most people don’t even know it has a name. They just call it "that song."
The accidental genius of simplicity
The track wasn't designed to be a hit. In fact, Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim, and Jamie Smith (now famously known as Jamie xx) recorded their debut album, xx, in a tiny garage at the back of XL Recordings' offices. They worked mostly at night. You can hear that in the track. It feels dark, but not scary. It feels private.
The genius of The Intro by The xx lies in its restraint. Most opening tracks try to grab you by the throat. This one just taps you on the shoulder. It starts with a simple kick drum—thump, thump-thump—and then that iconic palm-muted guitar melody slides in. It uses a very specific scale (A minor, for the music nerds out there) that feels both hopeful and incredibly sad at the same time.
Romy and Oliver’s guitars talk to each other. It’s a conversation. There’s no climax, no screaming solo, and no resolution. It just builds and builds until it breathes out and fades away. This lack of a "payoff" is actually what makes it so addictive. Your brain wants it to keep going, so you hit repeat.
Why everyone from Rihanna to NBC stole this sound
You’ve likely heard the melody even if you’ve never listened to the album. Rihanna famously sampled it for her track "Drunk on Love." While that song is great, it’s funny how the sample carries the entire emotional weight of her track. That’s the power of the original composition. It’s a skeleton that any emotion can fit onto.
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Television producers figured this out almost immediately. During the 2010 Winter Olympics, NBC used it constantly. It became the go-to "hype" song for sports montages, which is hilarious considering how chill the band actually is. They aren't exactly "stadium rock" people. But the steady 120 BPM (beats per minute) tempo matches the human heart rate when it's slightly elevated. It creates a physical sense of "something is about to happen."
The Jamie xx factor
We have to talk about Jamie. Before he was a massive solo star or a world-renowned DJ, he was the guy in the back with the MPC. His production on The Intro by The xx is a masterclass in space. He understands that what you don't play is just as important as what you do.
He didn't use flashy synths or heavy distortion. He used a lot of reverb. Like, a lot. This created a "liminal space"—that feeling of being in a hallway or a waiting room. In 2009, music was getting loud and aggressive (think Black Eyed Peas or the rise of Skrillex). The xx went the opposite way. They went quiet. And the world leaned in to hear them.
The gear that made the sound
If you're a guitar player, you’ve probably tried to cover this. It looks easy. It isn't. To get that specific tone from The Intro by The xx, Romy used a Gibson Les Paul and Oliver used a Fender Precision Bass, but the secret sauce was the Roland Micro Cube amp.
- They used the "JC Clean" setting.
- Lots of chorus.
- Heavy reverb.
- Very light touch on the strings.
It sounds cheap because, well, it sort of was. They weren't using $10,000 boutique pedals. They were kids using what they had. That "lo-fi" aesthetic is exactly what made it feel authentic to a generation of people tired of over-produced pop.
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What most people get wrong about the "vibe"
People often call this music "sad." I don’t think it is. Or at least, it’s not just sad. There’s a specific word the Portuguese use: saudade. It means a nostalgic longing for something that might not even exist.
That’s The Intro by The xx in a nutshell.
When you hear those first four bars, you aren't thinking about a specific memory. You’re thinking about the feeling of a memory. It’s why it works so well in film. It doesn't tell the audience how to feel; it provides a blank canvas for the audience to project their own feelings onto. This is why it remains a staple in "study beats" playlists and "late night drive" mixes. It’s functional music.
The legacy of a two-minute loop
Is it the best instrumental ever? Maybe not. But it is certainly one of the most influential of the 21st century. It paved the way for the "PBR&B" movement (think early Weeknd or Frank Ocean) where space and silence were treated as instruments.
It’s been over a decade, and yet, when those opening notes play in a crowded room, people still go quiet. It has a gravity to it. The band has released more complex songs since then—"Crystalised," "VCR," "On Hold"—but nothing captured the lightning in a bottle quite like that first track.
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How to actually experience it now
If you haven't listened to it on a good pair of headphones lately, do it. Don't listen to the radio edit. Don't listen to a remix. Listen to the original album version.
Pay attention to the way the bass enters. It doesn't just sit under the guitar; it pushes it. Notice how the clap sound is slightly off-center in your ears. It’s these tiny imperfections that make it feel human. In an era where everything is quantized to death by AI and perfect software, The Intro by The xx sounds like three people in a room, breathing together.
Actionable steps for the modern listener
If you want to dig deeper into this specific sound or capture this energy in your own life, here is how to move forward:
- Listen to the "Coexist" album next. While the debut is the classic, their second album doubles down on the minimalism of the intro.
- Watch the Glastonbury 2010 performance. Seeing them play this live, huddled together on a massive stage, explains their dynamic better than any article ever could.
- Check out Jamie xx’s solo work. Specifically the track "Gosh." You can see how the DNA of the intro evolved into a more club-focused sound.
- Strip back your own creative work. If you're a creator, try the "xx method." Take your project and remove elements until it almost breaks. See if the core idea still holds up without the fluff.
The staying power of this song proves that you don't need to shout to be heard. Sometimes, a whisper is much louder.