In a world where literally tens of thousands of songs are released each week, and every artist is inescapably indebted to their predecessors, being able to shrug off that anxiety of influence and produce a sound that’s unique is the rarest of talents. With their glimmering guitar shapes, hushed vocal interplay and twitching rhythms, these masters of understatement did that effortlessly in 2009, and were rewarded accordingly with a Mercury Prize. A difficult act to follow, then. Fortunately, from the arresting minimalism of ‘Angels’ to the muted steel-pans and clipped beats of ‘Reunion’, Coexist proves that The xx have found ways to forge onward artistically, whilst remaining true to their unmistakable sound.