Girl with Basket of Fruit

The record is said to feature "themes and references" of and to "ritual, mythology, mundane and divergent belief, film, music, and resurrected motifs from preceding Xiu Xiu videos".[1] It was also noted to be "imbued with the agitation, tension, sorrow and anger that has permeated the daily lives of so many over the last few years".[3] The title is a reference to Caravaggio's Boy with a Basket of Fruit, with the gender switch being crucial to the record: "When this title is a boy it is fey and lovely. When it is a girl is worrisome and rife with danger. Male martyrs are almost always surrounded by nurses, their mothers, adoring angels and other loving disciples wrapping their crushed and holy bodies in strips of herb soaked cloth and weeping rapturously. Female martyrs are almost always depicted having their skin flayed, breasts branded or ripped off with tongs or being stabbed and they are always, always alone save for her murderers. There is never anyone by their sides celebrating their spiritual life, only fiendishly reveling in their torture of her. It is perilous to be a 'girl.'"[4]

Jamie Stewart, alongside a selection of images connected to each of the album's songs and Angela Seo's favorite and least-favorite lyrics, wrote of Girl with a Basket of Fruit: "Generally, Xiu Xiu songs are narratives about the internal effects of external events. For this record [...] the lyrics were taken largely from the internal effects of internal events: reactions to and explorations of other people's TEXTS [...] and images."[4]

The cover of the album depicts the sigil of Vetis, The Life Promiser, whose name is referenced in the title track of the album.[4]

Lead single "Scisssssssors" was called "ritualistic-sounding" and its video described as featuring "cult-like imagery" by The Fader.[5]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	6.8/10[6]
Metacritic	75/100[7]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[8]
The Line of Best Fit	3.5/10[9]
Pitchfork	6.0/10[10]
PopMatters	[11]
Sputnikmusic	4/5[12]
Under the Radar	[13]
Tiny Mix Tapes	[14]

Girl with Basket of Fruit received positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic, the album holds a score of 75/100 based on 11 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[7]

All tracks produced by Angela Seo and Greg Saunier. Credits adapted from Tidal.[15]

Credits adapted from liner notes.[16]

Xiu Xiu

• Jamie Stewart – vocals, synthesizers, guitar, experimental percussion, viola, recording[lower-alpha 1]
• Angela Seo – piano, vocals, electronic percussion, organ, harmonium, production

Additional musicians

Technical

• John Congleton – mixing
• Lawrence English – mastering
• Tara Jane O'Neil – additional recording