For years, the question wasn’t whether The xx would reunite—it was whether there would ever be a gap in their increasingly successful solo careers long enough to make it happen. Jamie xx has become a festival headliner in his own right, Romy has carved out an ecstatic dance-pop identity, and Oliver Sim has emerged as one of indie music’s most compelling storytellers.

Bringing all three back onto the same stage suddenly felt less inevitable than miraculous.
That sense of occasion hung over Fuji Rock’s Green Stage long before the trio appeared. The xx have always understood the power of restraint. A decade ago they filled festival fields with little more than monochrome lighting, empty space and songs that whispered rather than shouted. Time has only sharpened that instinct.

They opened in silhouette, Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim and Jamie Smith facing one another before easing into “Crystalised.” Instead of handing vocal lines back and forth as they once did, they often sang together, their voices hovering over the song’s unmistakable bassline. Every inhale, every whispered harmony seemed magnified in the mountain air, creating the rare feeling that an enormous festival crowd had collectively fallen silent.

“Say Something Loving,” “Islands” and “Angels” unfolded with remarkable patience. Nothing was rushed. Romy’s guitar shimmered softly while Sim’s understated presence grounded the songs, each movement deliberate, every pause carrying as much weight as the notes themselves.
The reunion worked because it never felt like a nostalgic exercise. Each member returned having grown into a fully realized artist.

Jamie’s adventurous production, Romy’s euphoric club instincts and Sim’s emotional directness have expanded what The xx can be without sacrificing the chemistry that made them special in the first place. Rather than competing for attention, those experiences now complement one another, making the band’s famously minimalist sound feel richer and more confident.

Visually, the performance remained almost stubbornly understated. Black-and-white imagery dominated the screens while close-up camera shots lingered on Jamie’s hands as he quietly manipulated rhythms and textures from behind his setup. There were no oversized gestures or unnecessary theatrics. The tension came from what the band chose not to do.That restraint made the closing stretch all the more exhilarating.

Almost imperceptibly, Jamie began pulling the music toward the dance floor. The pulse grew stronger, colors slowly replaced monochrome, and the emotional temperature shifted. By the time “Loud Places” arrived, the Green Stage had transformed from quiet reverence into collective release. The reserved audience that had spent an hour hanging on every delicate note suddenly found themselves moving together.

The momentum carried seamlessly into “Enjoy Your Life,” which became the emotional high point of the evening. Bright washes of color flooded the stage as Romy encouraged the crowd to sing the title refrain. Thousands of hands shot into the air, turning the performance into something closer to a celebration than a concert. What had begun as one of the weekend’s most introspective sets ended as one of its most joyful.

It was also a reminder of why Jamie xx has become one of electronic music’s defining festival performers. Without overwhelming the identity of The xx, he subtly steered the trio toward an ecstatic finale, folding club music into the band’s intimate world until the distinction disappeared entirely.

For a band whose greatest strength has always been understatement, The xx found the perfect ending—not with a dramatic explosion, but by slowly opening the door to euphoria. After years apart building remarkable solo careers, they returned sounding not like artists revisiting the past, but like three musicians whose separate journeys had made the reunion even more meaningful.