THE XX'S UPWARD SPIRAL The indie heroes grew up, went to Texas and embraced The Beach Boys for ISee You: "We're portrayed to be moodier people than we are," says Oliver Sim BY SHAAD D'SOUZA PHOTOGRAPHED BY WILK THE PULSE OF MUSIC RIGHT NOW NVIOUS' IS THE WORD THAT The xx bassist Oliver Sim, huddled next to bandmates Romy Madley ECroft and Jamie Smith in ahotel room at Melbourne's Grand Hyatt, uses to describe how he felt watching Smith perform as asolo artist. In 2015, while the London trio was effectively prolonging its hiatus following its 2012 album Coexist, Smith (who performs as Jamie xx) released adance album, In Colour, that was critically beloved and yielded an international tour. Compared to The xx ., delicate, heart-rending pop, the squelching bangers of In Colour were fresh and exciting; the band, in turn, began to feel like arelic from the indic -rock boom of the z000s. Sim, leaning forward on alarge sofa while _ith lounges back beside him, says he used -Pro find playing shows "painful"; watching Smith mesmerize crowds, however, lit afire under him. "As proud as Ifelt," he says, "I was definitely like, 'I want to be doing this. Iwant to be up there, with the three of us.'" The goal was to "be more And so The xx evolved instead of died, fun," says Sim. From left: and created its third album, ISee You (Young Sim, Croft and Smith photographed Dec. 16,2016, Turks, Jan. 13), ademonstrably more upbeat in Melbourne, Australia. project recorded more than 5,000 miles JANUARY 14, 2017 I WWW.BILLBOARD.COM 25 .