Photo by Erez Avissar

During the xx's recent U.S. tour, the London trio took some time out to begin recording the follow-up to 2012's Coexist. In an interview with Dazed, XL in-house producer Rodaidh McDonald talked about the sessions. McDonald previously worked with the xx on their debut album.

"I’m right in the middle of working on their third record now," he said of the xx, "and it’s a completely different concept, just trying everything, trying to find new ways of working, new sounds..."

He added:

We’re doing it in Texas and Iceland, and maybe France. So that’s kind of starting in the middle of July, I’ve already spent a bit of time with them in Texas. There are songs which have come out of our experiences in New York and Texas that would never have come out in London; the colours and the ideas and the moods on some of these songs are just not things you would write in London. It’s about opening things up a bit more. They are a London band, but they’re also a band that’s spent a lot of time in different countries. So we’re trying to push that further with the Iceland trip, which is happening in July.

McDonald also talked about working on new material with the elusive Jai Paul:

I did something with him last week, some vocal production on a new song. We finished it, whether he wants to put it out or not I don’t know. It’s just a very long process for him I guess, he’s been working on (his album) for years. One of the things that I sort of identified was that he might benefit from some help using vocals. But his music sounds so good, he doesn’t need any help, I think he’s perfect.

McDonald is also producing Sampha's debut album and working with new artist Denai Moore.

Watch the video for the xx's "Islands":