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Xiu Xiu

Nov 24, 2024 By Nick Roseblade Photography by Victor Frankowski Web Exclusive

I think it’s fair to say that Xiu Xiu have released one of the albums of the year. 13” Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips (13” Frank…) is the perfect bookend to 2023’s Ignore Grief. That album was an exercise, or was that exercise, in nasty, dank, semi-industrial soundscapes. 13” Frank keeps to the band’s mission statement of making sad music you can dance to. So, expectation was HIGH going into this gig at Brighton’s Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts (ACCA). Even more so when you throw in, I AM FYA as the support.

I arrived at the venue early, partly because I’m a prompt person and I’d never been there before and didn’t want to get lost walking around an unfamiliar part of the city. Situated at the university I wasn’t really sure where to go. As usual my phone’s map app led me the wrong way before I realised where I should be going. When I arrived at the ACCA I was welcomed into a new, purpose built, venue for the arts. If you think of a mini festival hall, you’re on the right track. After a quick pitstop at the café for a drink it was time to head in. The idea of sitting through a Xiu Xiu gig both excited and annoyed me. Yes, I’m of an age where it’s nice to sit down to watch music but I also like bopping when the mood takes me.

While I was contemplating how I felt about sitting I AM FYA started. This was the second time in as many months that I’d seen I AM FYA perform. The first time we were told that the set wasn’t her usual one, and that at the ACCA she’d play that set in full. So, I was interested to see the difference. On the surface both were similar. A large screen behind the stage projected images while the bass boomed from the speakers. The set was mostly taken from the unreleased album Homecoming. It was written during one of the lock downs when FYA was looking after her parents in Barbados. While the disjointed beats and bass hurtled around the room FYA chanted “Calling to ancestors. You’re still here”. Vocally the set was made up of FYA’s live vocals and recordings of her parents and people they know. The highlight was when the granddaughter of her father’s carer was recorded singing a made-up song. It was delightful and reminded me of the songs my daughter and her friends make up. At the end the little girl asks if it was any good. FYA replied “That’s the best song ever” And she’s probably right. Later in the set the lyric “Where do you come from? Where do you really come from? You look interesting. Where do you belong? ” really spoke to me. Was FYA asking us about our family history, where our ancestors came from, or were these things that racists had asked her in the past? The answer was hazy and troubling. But this is what I AM FYA does. She asks these seemingly simple questions that then lead to bigger questions. To be honest I was still thinking about it during the interval and when Xiu Xiu took to the stage.

The last time I’d see the band the tension in the air was palpable. With every song it grew more and more intense. This evening, however, the crowd were in a much more playful mood. And so were the band. They walked onto the stage. Didn’t address the crowd and started to belt out “The Silver Platter”. During the set Jamie Stewart hit their cymbal a little too hard and bits of it fell to the floor. Afterwards they spent a few hurried moments putting it all back together. During this time the crowd started hooting, yelling and whooping it up. Then the cymbal was reassembled as “Sleep Blvd”. came next. This was the first new song of the set, and I was curious to see how it would be tackled. Gloriously was the answer. It sounded as fresh as it did on 13” Frank… but with a sense of immediacy missing from the recording. During “It Comes Out as a Joke” Stewart showed their playful side rushing about the stage with a shaker on their heads. Doing an intricate dance and finishing with a handstand that any junior gymnast would be happy with. While these shenanigans were going on Stewart’s bandmates Angelo Seo David Kendrick looked on and smiled/laughed. Seo even mouthed “What are you doing” while holding back a laugh. It was the kind of brevity that was missing from the previous gig, but that air of tension worked as another bandmember and gradually twisted the knife until it eventually popped with an explosion of dancing. When the band played “Suha” someone behind me gasped. “Jenny GoGo” elicited a huge cheer. Besides, someone said to a friend “I never thought they’d play this!”.

During the set the band’s mission statement of sad music you can dance to came to life. “T.D.F.T.W. ” was an example of this. As was “Sad Pony Guerilla Girl’” This was one of the few instances where the crowd joined in and sang along, especially the chorus. The music has a genuine bounce to it, but it wasn’t until “Common Loon” when people stood and danced in their seats and the aisles. “Veneficium” got the same treatment. This is the only problem with a seated venue. If you want to dance/move, you worry about obscuring people behind. Luckily no one kicked off but audible tuts were heard. The final song was “Get Up”. On record this has a nice lackadaisical vibe to it, but live it felt a bit more urgent and malicious. This gave the song some extra spice. When it finished the crowd took to their feet as one and bellowed, clapped until hands turned red and showed their approval. After a brief break Stewart returned on his own and performed a solo version of “Fabulous Muscles”. The man next to me wept. When it was over Stewart thanked us for coming and reminded us to buy merch for, I AM FYA on our way home. As we were shuffling out someone in front of me said to no one, and everyone one, “That was emotional. I feel emotional” The person next to them said “Aren’t we all” gave them a hug.

Xiu Xiu is one of the tightest bands out on the road at the moment. Live, their songs come alive unlike most bands. They become live breathing things. Their crowds are respectful but also out for a good time. When a friend asked me how the previous gig went, I said it was “Ace. It was gloomy but danced it out when we could”. The same was true tonight. Xiu Xiu fans like to party, despite their muted colour palates. As Stewart sang on “Common Loon” “They are a freak, and cool” and Xiu Xiu were very, very cool tonight indeed!