Welsh three piece XY&O look set to continue their impressive rise as they gear up for the release the yacht-pop inspired banger, Shades of You, out now via Electric MVM.

Combining elements of chillwave, synth-pop and R&B, Shades of You sees Cardiff based XY&O create a memorable brand of sun drenched haze-pop; juxtaposing eminently danceable hooks with profound lyrical content. Warm electro sounds ambiently pour from the speakers, as glitchy beats twinkle and shimmer and are neatly brought together by the stunningly delivered soothing vocals of Skip Curtis (vocals, rhythm guitar).

In this interview spotlight, I chat with XY&O about the latest project, challenges, motivations and more.

Full Q&A along with links and music below.

Let’s dive a little deeper into You, the artist and your music. What attracted you to this genre(s) or style(s)?

When we started writing songs together the plan was originally to write them for other people.

So, naturally that meant we were attempting to write ‘pop’ songs in a general sense.

The sound we ended up with initially was just the offspring of our collective writing styles; it’s pop but layered with our own idiosyncrasies. Our sound is very hazy and reverby. That was intentional. Who doesn’t like reverb!?

What led you into this journey with music? And further, what drives you to push it out to the public?

The music itself has led our journey so far as a band. Again, originally the plan wasn’t really for us to be a band. The online success of the music we made and how well it has been received is what really led us to evolving into a full band project.

And the same really for the public pushing. If the public want it, we’ll push it. Like crack, but less problematic.

Who or what influences your creativity? Have your tastes in music changed over time?

Like most musicians, our creativity is influenced by other musicians I guess. New and old. A lot of it is born out of envy maybe, not in a bad way. You just see and hear what others create and think…maybe I could do that?

Personally, my tastes have just broadened over time. I’ve always had a pretty diverse taste in music and I’m into most genres. If anything that’s just widened as we delve deeper and deeper into creating and performing music.

Were you trying to accomplish anything specific on this new project? Creatively or otherwise?

We just wanted to write and create music full time. Wales, the country we’re from has a rich history of music, poetry and performance. Maybe it was our patriotic duty to maintain that, or maybe we’re just three boys who just love slamming tunes so much that we can’t ever focus on anything else long enough to make a career out of it.

What was the last song you listened to?

Heavydirtysoul by Twenty One Pilots. Tune.

Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?

Acoustically, vinyl.
Nostalgically, CD.
Practically, MP3.

How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?

The streaming sites like Spotify and Apple were just game changers all around. They changed the way we consumed music as fans, and also shook up the whole industry.

They were and still are huge for us as a band. The success of our music on Spotify is really what has put us in the position we are in now where we can make music full time.

Other than the digital era overwhelming us with access to an abundance of music, what is the biggest challenge you face when trying to connect with or find new fans?

You’re bang on with that. It’s really difficult to convert people from digital followers to real fans. Apart from the music itself obviously, it’s a question of visibility. Making it as clear as possible to people who you are, where you from and what you’re all about.

We still have messages from people who think that XY&O is a solo project, or a DJ group. You must continually reinforce the sound and the image both digitally and physically by playing live, posting images etc.

Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more music?

We have our own website – www.xyando.com

But we’re also on Facebook and Instagram mostly @xyando

And for new music from us, get yourself over to your favourite streaming service and you should find us there. Spotify etc, just search XY&O.

Anything else you’d like to add before signing off?

Recycle your plastics.