Xiu Xiu
Biography
In the pantheon of uncompromising musical visionaries, few artists have carved out such a singular, unsettling niche as Xiu Xiu, the experimental project that has spent over two decades transforming trauma into transcendence through some of the most challenging and beautiful music ever committed to tape.
Born from the fertile creative mind of Jamie Stewart in San Jose, California in 2002, Xiu Xiu emerged like a wounded animal crawling from the wreckage of conventional songcraft. Taking their name from the controversial 1998 Chinese film "Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl," the project immediately signaled its intent to explore the darker corners of human experience with unflinching honesty. Stewart, a classically trained composer with a background in experimental music, assembled a rotating cast of collaborators around his core vision, with multi-instrumentalist Angela Seo becoming a crucial long-term partner in the project's evolution.
From their debut album "Knife Play" in 2002, Xiu Xiu established themselves as musical provocateurs of the highest order. Stewart's falsetto vocals, often compared to a wounded bird or a child lost in the woods, became the perfect vehicle for lyrics that tackled subjects most artists wouldn't dare approach: sexual abuse, mental illness, political oppression, and existential despair. Yet beneath the project's confrontational exterior lay a beating heart of genuine empathy and stunning melodic sophistication.
The band's sound defies easy categorization, drawing from experimental rock, electronic music, folk, noise, and avant-garde composition with equal facility. Their arsenal includes everything from traditional rock instruments to prepared piano, synthesizers, percussion instruments from around the world, and field recordings. This sonic adventurousness reached early peaks on albums like "Fabulous Muscles" (2004) and "The Air Force" (2006), where Stewart's increasingly confident songwriting merged with ever more inventive arrangements.
Perhaps no album better encapsulates Xiu Xiu's unique genius than 2010's "Dear God, I Hate Myself," a collection that somehow transforms self-loathing into something approaching spiritual catharsis. The record showcased Stewart's growth as both a vocalist and a composer, with tracks like "Gray Death" and "Secret Motel" achieving an unlikely balance between accessibility and avant-garde experimentation. This period also saw the band's live performances become legendary affairs, with Stewart's theatrical, often self-destructive stage presence creating an atmosphere of genuine danger and vulnerability.
The 2010s proved to be Xiu Xiu's most prolific and adventurous decade. Albums like "Always" (2012), "Angel Guts: Red Classroom" (2014), and "Forget" (2017) saw the project continually evolving, incorporating influences from black metal, industrial music, and contemporary classical composition. Their 2016 collaboration with Mitski on a cover of "Between the Bars" by Elliott Smith demonstrated their ability to reinterpret other artists' work through their distinctive lens, while their 2019 album "Girl with Basket of Fruit" pushed their sound into even more extreme territories.
Throughout their career, Xiu Xiu has remained fiercely independent, releasing music through labels like 5 Rue Christine, Kill Rock Stars, and Polyvinyl Record Co. While commercial success has remained elusive, their influence on experimental music cannot be overstated. Artists from Death Grips to Perfume Genius have cited Stewart's fearless approach to songwriting as an inspiration, and the project has earned critical acclaim from publications ranging from Pitchfork to The Wire.
Stewart's willingness to address political issues has also marked Xiu Xiu as more than just an experimental music project. Albums like "FORGET" tackled the rise of authoritarianism, while tracks like "Wondering" directly confronted issues of police brutality and racial injustice. This political engagement reached its apex with 2021's "OH NO," an album that grappled with the chaos and uncertainty of the pandemic era.
More than two decades into their existence, Xiu Xiu continues to evolve and challenge both themselves and their audience. Recent releases like "13" Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips" (2024) demonstrate that Stewart's creative well remains far from dry. In an era of increasingly sanitized popular music, Xiu Xiu stands as a reminder that art at its most powerful should disturb, provoke, and ultimately transform both creator and audience. They remain one of
