The XX, John Talabot

[MINIMALIST POP] The XX has a talent for minimalism, which it extends to its entire iconography. From its block-lettered, duo-chrome logo to its spare membership to its frill-less pop dirges, the group has proven capable of building success from limited raw materials. Coexist, the trio’s sophomore album released earlier this month, revisits much of the territory previously mapped on 2009’s xx. While the law of diminishing returns adds a sour sheen to the LP, its tracks nonetheless warrant attention simply by having managed to strip the XX’s lean aesthetic of details so minute as to have been invisible to all but their meticulous creators.