Angels (The xx song)

"Angels" was recorded during the sessions for Coexist at The xx's recording studio in London.[1] Its demo was originally recorded solely by Romy Madley Croft, who wrote the song's lyrics.[3] Jamie xx said of the song's recording in an interview for Spin, "It took a while to work out how to arrange it for the band. The demo was quite perfect, but it was just Romy. It took the entire length of the recording process to get it right."[3]

"Angels" is a sparsely-produced,[6] gentle ballad about the idea of being in love.[5][7] It has a measured pace and features slight vocals and whispered cadences by Croft,[4] background baritone bass,[6] subtle drum thuds,[8] and coiling guitar lines.[9] Pitchfork Media's Larry Fitzmaurice observes on the song "lots of hollow space surrounding [that] add[s] intimacy."[10] "Angels" opens with echoey guitar and Romy's vocals,[11] which are at the front of the mix.[12] Eerie snare rolls appear within a minute of the song,[10] but quickly fade away.[11] Arnold Pan of PopMatters writes that, in the context of Coexist, the song has its "own sense of development" and "resolution".[4] Oliver Sim said of this moment of tension in the song, "Early on, Jamie said something about the album being inspired by dance music, so everyone's expecting a house beat to drop halfway through—which is hilarious because this is not a dance record."[13]

Croft's transparent lyrics express lovesick emotion,[4][14] adoration,[15] and private knowledge acquired from intimacy:[16] "You move through the room / Like breathing was easy / If someone believed me / They would be as in love with you as I am".[8] They also compare a relationship that ended prematurely to "dreaming of angels, and leaving without them".[17] Her repetition of "love" in the song's chorus expresses the depth and intensity of the narrator's feeling.[18] Priya Elan of NME opines that she repeats the word "like she's been sucker-punched by the sheer intensity of her heart-shaped feeling. She's revelling in the joy of it, but also realising the utter failure of the simple four-letter word to express the depth of what she's experiencing."[18] Croft said that the song is "very positive lyrically" and that its album "goes through a few different stages, and this would be the lightest."[3] Puja Patel of Spin characterizes its subject matter as "loverlorn" and observes a balance "between honest[y], gut-wrenching desire and stalker-like idolization".[8]

The xx premiered the song at Electrowerkz in Islington, London on 14 May 2012, their first live show since 2010.[19] They subsequently performed "Angels" on Conan on 24 July.[20]

Pitchfork Media's Larry Fitzmaurice noted the song's "percussive touch" as an indication that "the xx are changing ... slowly and subtly, two characteristics that's always been part of their central appeal."[10] Siân Rowe of NME called it "a heart-meltingly perfect follow-on from their debut",[21] and the magazine's Priya Elan dubbed it "the boldest Valentine the band have ever recorded."[18] Michael Cragg of The Guardian commented that "their ability to make minimalism seem warm and comforting [is] still intact."[11] Allmusic's Heather Phares called the song a "lovely album opener" and wrote that the band's "elegantly serpentine guitars — which recalled the Cure and Durutti Column on xx ... are now entirely their own".[9] The Quietus critiqued that "it feels a bit more confident; where Oliver Sim and Madley-Croft's wordplay on their debut was tentative, there's a newfound directness".[12] Brendan Frank of Beats Per Minute commended Croft for "delivering a simple love note to an anonymous recipient," adding that "she does a magnificent job of carrying the piece on her own."[22] Stephen Thompson of NPR called "Angels" a "gentle love song made all the more disarming for its simplicity," writing that it "ratchets up the tension using the fewest possible ingredients."[5] In Australia, the song was voted by members of the public to number 19 on Triple J Hottest 100 of 2012.

In 2012, British band Bastille covered "Angels" alongside TLC's "No Scrubs" in a mash-up entitled "No Angels".[23] The mash-up featured as one of eleven tracks on the band's second mixtape, Other People's Heartache, Pt. 2.[24] Lou Rhodes performed an acoustic cover of the song in 2014.[25]

Credits adapted from Coexist liner notes.[1]

• Romy Madley Croft – composer, guitar, vocals
• Oliver Sim – bass, composer
• Jamie Smith – beats, composer, engineer, mixing, MPC, producer
• Rodaidh McDonald – mixing
• Mandy Parnell – mastering