You don’t have to listen to much more than a minute of a Xiu Xiu song to understand that Jamie Stewart is upset. Indeed, nearly everything in the Durham, North Carolina, singer’s catalog represents a shot across the bow of calmness, from his vocal histrionics to the ping-ponging of intense imagery and emo straightforwardness that populates his lyrics, on to the wailing electronics cutting though otherwise pleasant melodies. Stewart’s album titles, too, indicate grand passions: Dear God, I Hate Myself; Knife Play; and his newest, Always.
Stewart’s unparalleled ability to be deeply upset in public has earned him a healthy cult following, placing him in a rare, enviable position: that of the outsider musician who’s made it relatively big. Always contains some of the biggest-sounding tracks of Stewart’s career—consider “Hi,” which could fill the dance floor at a party full of lonely people, or “Smear the Queen,” which sounds like the world’s most depressed Hot Chip song. Both are triumphs in Stewart’s slow march toward the realm of accessibility.
But the album also contains some of his most overtly dark material; “Black Drum Machine” deals with incest and abuse, while “I Luv Abortion” melds subject matter and music to harrowing, humanizing effect. This balance of shock tactics and gut-punch directness is what allows Xiu Xiu to thrive. Perhaps Stewart and his bandmates have earned the mantra that adorned a notorious T-shirt a few years back: xiu xiu for life. (That the phrase was written in blood should surprise no one.)—Drew Millard