Article Analysis

The heading serves as an intertextuality with a real song called -
The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and could be used to connote enigma, to make the reader go 'hmm that sounds familiar'. Also behind the heading you can ever so slightly make out two XX's which is the band's name and logo and the fact that it is hidden within the darkness of the page reienforces the heading.

The very interview itself is written in continuous prose suggesting a journalist or reporter style of text which signifies the bands importance.
The main image of the band themselves looks very dark and very shadowy. The members themselves almost look evil and sinister - they're wearing all black and their eyes look possessed which also serves to reinforce the title. The very fact that there is a shadow around them makes you think that that is their other self their darker self, the evil within them almost manifesting itself in a shadow so we can see it. It makes the band seem supernatural and unique, that about there's something special about them making audience want to read more about them.

The next page illustrates the rest of the article. If you read through the article you will notice several 'XX' being placed under some of the paragraphs. This a syncronised motif and ties in with the title of the band. X can connote several several different things. X could stand for target(x marks the spot) or maybe it could be a roman numeral for 10 but I think they probably intended it to connote death. Darkness and death are pretty similar themes and the fact that there are two X's could probably mean that they want to cheat death because of course you can't ie twice. They want to rebel, they want to be different and thereare similarities with this band and with the teenagers of today they're young and they seem like they want to targetting teenagers in particular because this is generally what the teens of today would be doing (rebelling and lstening to rock music and going goth or whatever).

The several additional images all seem to have a recurring theme; it is the fact that none of the images show the artists actually looking at the camera. One shot even has the use of backlighting to make the artist look like a silhouette or a shadowwhich links to their title and their themes. This could imply one thing: that they do not want to show their faces because it sort of links to the enigmatic of the title. Meaning within darkness, nobody is seen sort of suggesting they want to remain anonymous and not be swept away by the stardom of being professional musicians.
Finally, I notice at the bottom of the page their is a little floating quote saying - " I'm reluctant to go into detail about my lyrics. I don't want to destroy anyone's interpretation of the songs" Oliver Sim.
This made my realise that this band seems to be so into their own music that they don't want to be the ones to spoil for everyone else and by scrutinising their lyrics in detail it's sort of ruins everyone's own interpretation of the lyrics, by saying what the lyrics actually mean your not letting your audience imagine and explore your music their own. That would be one of the key reasons one would listen to The XX because everyone would love them for different reasons and they would discuss it with their friends and soon contributing to word of mouth and thus boosting their popularity.