Intro (The xx song)

"Intro"'s production was handled by Jamie xx, who was also mixer. The recording and mixing was held between December 2008 and May 2009 at XL Studio, a studio by XL Recordings located in London, England. Rodaidh McDonald engineered the track and was also the mixer. Romy Madley Croft and Baria Qureshi played guitar, the latter being a keyboardist for the song, while Oliver Sim was bassist. Finally, the mastering was done by Nilesh Patel at studio The Exchange in Camden Town.^[1]

"Intro" was composed by Baria Qureshi, Jamie xx, Oliver Sim and Romy Madley Croft.^[1] It is an instrumental with a duration of approximately two minutes and eight seconds,^[1] performed in the key of A minor—with a chord progression of F–Am followed throughout the song—and in common time at a tempo of 100 beats per minute.^[2] The instrumentation consists of a "fuzzy keyboard, a simple guitar riff, wordless chanting" and "double-tracked drums", according to The A.V. Club's Vadim Rizov;^[3] Chase McMullen from Beats Per Minute described the song as "nearly trip hop".^[4] It opens with a riff that BBC Music's Lou Thomas compared to "Fot I Hose" by Casiokids, before the beat drops in which he said was "heavy enough for dubstep".^[5] PopMatters journalist Ben Schumer said "Intro" "could almost pass for the score to a scene in a James Bond film. Although, it would have be [sic] some sort of nautical nighttime mission for Mr. Bond." He also compared it to "Untitled" from Interpol's debut album Turn on the Bright Lights, explaining that it "sets the scene [of xx] and gives listeners their first intoxicating taste of the xx's soundworld."^[6] AllMusic critic Heather Phares described the sound as "moody" and "monochromatic".^[7]

"Intro" was well received by critics. Bustle journalist Gabrielle Moss called it a "British indie pop gem",^[8] and Chase McMullen of Beats per Minute honored the song as "a perfect opening to the greatness that is [xx]".^[4] The Observer critic Sarah Boden wrote that "As the languorous swirl of Intro fades in [...] you immediately sense you're listening to something seductively special."^[9] Vadim Rizov of The A.V. Club called the arrangement "epic minimalism",^[3] while AllMusic's Heather Phares opined it "lovely enough".^[7] Commercially, "Intro"'s first appearance on the charts was in 2010, when it hit number 161 on the UK Singles Chart.^[10] Between 2012 and 2013, the track reached number 96 in France and number 50 in Spain,^[11] as well as earning a new peak on the UK chart at number 129.^[12]

In 2010, Neil McCormick, a writer for The Daily Telegraph, analysed "Intro" to have "become a TV favourite", and has helped the xx develop enough media presence to garner "over half a million sales around the world without ever having anything as vulgar as a hit". BBC used it as the theme for the 2010 United Kingdom general election.^[13] It also was used in a commercial starring American speed skater Apolo Ohno for the telecom company AT&T.^[14]

Furthermore, the song was featured in the 2010 film It's Kind of a Funny Story and the 2012 film Project X, as well as in an episode of the first season of Person of Interest in October 2011, in episode 3 of the first season of The Magicians, and in episode 7 of the second season of Outer Banks following which the song entered Billboard's Top TV Songs chart at number 4 in August 2021.^[15]

Rihanna's song "Drunk on Love", from her sixth studio album Talk That Talk, samples the melody of "Intro",^[16] and subsequently, all members of The xx earned writing credits on Talk That Talk.^[17]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of xx.^[1]

• Romy Madley Croft – guitar, wordless vocals
• Oliver Sim – bass, wordless vocals
• Jamie Smith – beats, mixing, MPC, production
• Baria Qureshi – guitar, keyboards
• Rodaidh McDonald – engineering, mixing
• Nilesh Patel – mastering