Jamie XX and Romy of The XX take us on a dreamy trip around London by skateboard in the video for Loud Places, directed by Simon Halsall and JB Babehhausen.

True to form for Jamie and Romy, the visuals remain mysterious and shadowy, not giving too much away. It steers clear of becoming a travelogue and is more of a mood piece in keeping with the intimate atmosphere created by the track. And finally, a blizzard of colourful confetti, shaped like Jamie XX's logo, obliterates the skaters...  

Jamie XX explains: "[Romy and I] grew up skateboarding together. When I was thinking of what the video for Loud Places should be, I kept coming back to the idea of Romy and I skating in London, visiting the places we used to go to. It’s a part of our friendship not many people really know about and it’s something I wanted to share."

SIMON & JB:

"There is something at the heart of Loud Places that encapsulates the current state of Jamie. The track reflects his personal transition from the slow, romantic and sultry vibes of the xx into the soulful and euphoric and colourful; something you can imagine jamming to with thousands of people at a summer festival. The video was all about capturing that transition. It seemed like a challenge at first but then we realised we had all the components to overcome it.

"London was an ideal backdrop and boasted the dynamic we were looking for: something melancholic, gritty and surging with colour and party. Jamie loves London and he wanted to create a sort of ode to it as well as give a glimpse into his and Romy’s friendship that along with music also had its roots in skateboarding.

"Skating was something we were all into growing up and it just embodied that sense of freedom and exploration that matched the track perfectly. We had a lot of fun cruising about and revisiting old spots and there was definitely some nostalgia there and overall it ended up playing and vying really nicely with the uplifting upstream of confetti."