San Jose-based Experimental Rock Group ‘Xiu Xiu’ Drops Latest Album
By: Heron Lundeen
In September 2024, San Jose experimental rock band Xiu Xiu released their fourteenth studio album, “13-inch Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips.” Xiu Xiu’s 2002 album “Knife Play” was my introduction to the band. I had never heard another artist convey emotions ranging from despair to devotion through vocals the way Xiu Xiu did. I became obsessed with the album when I was sixteen, and songs like “Suha” and “Homunculus” resonated a little too much with me.
Since “Knife Play,” each of Xiu Xiu’s fourteen albums has created a new sound and narrative, and “13-inch Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips” isn’t anywhere close to “Knife Play” in terms of storytelling. It’s a new sound entirely, different from any of the subsequent albums released since 2002, and the sound that it creates is varied and fascinating.
Xiu Xiu is the project of vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Jamie Stewart. The band has undergone many iterations since its formation in 2002. Although it was formed out of Stewart’s previous band, Ten in the Swear Jar, Stewart has been the only consistent member since the band’s inception.
Stewart, vocalist and instrumentalist Angela Seo and percussionist David Kendrick are Xiu Xiu’s current members. Kendrick’s first appearance with the band was the 2023 release “Ignore Grief.” In “13-inch Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips,” Kendrick’s presence as a percussionist creates a sound closer to rock than most of their previous work, especially in songs like “Maestro One Chord” and “T.D.F.T.W.”
Track 1: “Arp Omni” is an unnerving song about devotion that opens the album. Jamie Stewart’s unique and piercing voice beautifully carries the chorus:
“I have done almost nothing right
My entire adult life
But having dared to touch the fire with you
Breaks the chain of my being nothing, too”
The range of 13-inch can be seen in the transition from “Arp Omni” to track two: “Maestro One Chord.” The slow strings of track one transform into sirens with David Kendrick’s percussion at the beginning of track two. Changing the tone from restrained to unreserved and liberated. This is reflected in the refrain of the track, where Jamie Stewart repeats:
“Curious and unafraid,
Curious and unafraid”
I love the progression of 13-inch and how multifaceted the album is. I recommend it as an introduction to Xiu Xiu for new listeners. It beautifully shows the extent of Xiu Xiu’s creative talent and ability to imagine worlds within songs.