Intro (The xx song)

Intro
The xx
publication	August 16, 2009
length	2:08
Genre (s)	Instrumental , trip-hop
Author (s)	Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim, Baria Qureshi, Jamie xx
Label	Young Turks
album	xx

Intro is a Instrumental - Song of the British indie - pop-rock - band The xx and acts as an opening song ( intro ) of their first studio album xx . Although the song was never officially released as a single , it is one of the band's best known songs due to the background music in films, TV series or contributions.

composition

Intro was composed and produced by band members Romy Madley Croft, Olivier Sim, Baria Qureshi and Jamie xx . The recording took place between December 2008 and May 2009 at XL Studios of XL Recordings in London . Croft and Qureshi played the guitar , the latter also played the keyboard . Sim acted as the bass player . The final mastering took place at The Exchange Studios in Camden . Intro is a trip-hop - instrumental - song with a length of 2:08 minutes. The song is composed in A minor and has the chord progression F-Am. The song, composed in four-four time , has a tempo of 110 beats per minute . The wordless singing, which is more like a hum, has a range of A ₃ -E ₄ . It also includes the use of a keyboard, a memorable guitar riff and double-recorded drums. The composition is kept minimalist . There are now longer versions of the song on YouTube in which the ends of the piece have been put together to form a loop . The longest version has a duration of 10 hours.

Reviews

Intro was received positively by the critics. Anne Waak from Die Welt described the song as "promising and perfect". BBC's Lou Thomas praises the fact that the song arouses low expectations of its listeners due to the rather unimaginative name, but that it then surprises. In connection with the album review, Der Spiegel wrote that the works of The xx were "of sublime melancholy, but also of majestic intimacy". The Telegraph described the intro as "mysterious".

Commercial win

Since Intro was not published as a single , the song could not reach a chart position in the German single charts , the Ö3 Austria Top 40 and in the Swiss hit parade . In the UK , the song reached number eleven on the UK Independent Charts . Through download sales, Intro reached number 50 in the Spanish music charts on December 8, 2013 and stayed there for a week. In France, the song reached number 96. In the US Billboard charts, Intro reached number 32 of the rock digital singles on March 13, 2010 . A placement in the Billboard Hot 100 did not succeed.

Award for music sales

Intro has been awarded 1 × silver , 2 × gold and 1 × platinum worldwide. The turnover that the song had reached corresponds to a sales figure of 770,000 units.

country	Awards	Sales
Italy	platinum	30,000
Canada	gold	40,000
United Kingdom	silver	200,000
United States	gold	500,000
All in all	1 × silver 2 × gold 1 × platinum	770,000

Use in other works

Intro has now been used in many television reports, commercials, and films. The song is not always used with permission from The xx . In Croatia the song was used for a propaganda clip for an anti- LGBT movement, whereupon the band filed a lawsuit. The following list contains a selection of uses of the piece Intro in other works.

• music
  • Drunk on Love by Rihanna samples the tune of Intro
  • Project T. by Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike also samples the melody of the intro

• Movie
  • In the film Project X by Nima Nourizadeh, in the scene when the protagonists come to school the next morning after the party. Although present in the film, the intro is not part of the film's official soundtrack.
  • In the film It's Kind of a Funny Story by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, in the scene in which Craig overcomes his "creative block" and simply begins to draw, which ends in a map of a city in a brain.
• watch TV
  • For the election coverage of the BBC to the British general election, 2010
  • Person of Interest , episode 5 of the first season (Judgment), credits
  • Law & Order
  • Cold case
  • Suits , Follow The Choice and Follow Inside Track
  • Lip Service , episode 5, season 1
  • CSI: Vegas , episode Bloodsport (season 10, episode 5)
  • During the first part of the Top Gear Africa Challenge
  • The Magicians , Episode 3, Season 1
  • US raid in Africa - Operation Kony (ARTE)

Contributors

• Romy Madley Croft - guitar
• Oliver Sim - bass
• Jamie Smith - beats , mixdown , MPC , record producer
• Baria Qureshi - guitar , keyboards
• Rodaidh McDonald - Mixing
• Nilesh Patel - Mastering

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Neil McCormick: The xx: never heard of them? Actually, you have. In: The Telegraph . July 21, 2010, accessed September 23, 2015 . 
2. ↑ xx (booklet accompanying the album). 2009. The xx. London: Young Turks. YT031.
3. ↑ Review The xx - xx. In: beatsperminute.com. Retrieved September 23, 2015 . 
4. ↑ Sheet music The xx - Intro. musicnotes.com, accessed September 23, 2015 . 
5. ↑ Vadim Rizov: Music Review The xx - xx. In: avclub.com. January 5, 2010, accessed September 23, 2015 . 
6. ^ ^{A b} Anne Waak: Music to weigh yourself, with your eyes closed. In: The world . September 6, 2012, accessed September 23, 2015 . 
7. ↑ Lou Thomas: The xx - xx Review. BBC , accessed September 23, 2015 . 
8. ↑ Christoph Dallach: Turning the foreign into your own. In: Spiegel Online . July 27, 2009, accessed September 23, 2015 . 
9. ↑ Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50 March 10, 2013 - March 16, 2013. Official Charts Company, accessed on September 23, 2015 (English). 
10. ↑ The xx - Intro chart placement Spain. Hung Medien, accessed September 23, 2015 . 
11. ^ The xx - Intro chart placement France. Hung Medien, accessed September 23, 2015 . 
12. ^ Charthistory The xx. Billboard , accessed September 23, 2015 . 
13. ^ Gold / Platinum Music Canada. Music Canada , accessed January 18, 2018 . 
14. ↑ BPI Awards. British Phonographic Industry , accessed January 18, 2018 . 
15. ^ Rold & Platinum - RIAA. Recording Industry Association of America , accessed January 18, 2018 . 
16. ↑ Caren Badtke: The xx are sour: music used for anti-LGBT propaganda. In: Musikexpress . November 28, 2013, accessed September 23, 2015 . 
17. ↑ ^{a b} Sample list The xx - Intro. Retrieved September 23, 2015 . 
18. ↑ Christoph Dallach: Into the heart of darkness. In: Der Spiegel . July 30, 2012, accessed September 23, 2015 . 
19. ↑ ^{a b c} The xx Filmography. In: IMDb . Retrieved September 23, 2015 . 
20. ^ Scott Smith: Consequences of Advanced Spellcasting. February 1, 2016, accessed November 6, 2016 .