Xiu Xiu ( ) is an American experimental rock band, formed in 2002 by singer-songwriter Jamie Stewart in San Jose, California. The line-up consists of multi-instrumentalists Stewart (the only constant member since formation), Angela Seo, and percussionist David Kendrick. The band's name comes from the Chinese film Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl, which Stewart and fellow founding member Corry McCulloch watched during the early days of their project and related to the tragedies faced by the lead character from the movie.
Xiu Xiu released their first two albums, Knife Play (2002) and A Promise (2003), on 5 Rue Christine to positive critical reception. In-between the two, the EP Chapel of the Chimes was released via Absolutely Kosher. The compilation album Fag Patrol was released shortly after, and their third studio album Fabulous Muscles was released in 2004. La Forêt was released in 2005 after Caralee McElroy joined the group, and The Air Force followed in 2006. 2008's Women as Lovers was released via the main Kill Rock Stars label in 2008, and McElroy departed the group shortly afterwards.
Dear God, I Hate Myself was released in 2010 and was the first Xiu Xiu album to prominently feature longtime member Angela Seo. Following a signing to Polyvinyl and Bella Union, Xiu Xiu released Always (2012) and Angel Guts: Red Classroom (2014). In between those two projects, the group released a Nina Simone tribute project, Nina, in late 2013 via Graveface Records.
Plays the Music of Twin Peaks (2016) followed, an album consisting of covers from the Twin Peaks soundtracks originally as a Record Store Day exclusive release but re-released by Polyvinyl later that year. Forget (2017) and Girl with Basket of Fruit (2019) were released afterwards, and Xiu Xiu released their twelfth album Oh No in 2021. Their thirteenth album, Ignore Grief, was released in March 2023, and their fourteenth, 13" Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips, was released in September 2024.
In July 2025, the band announced on Instagram that they were removing their music from Spotify in response to Daniel Ek's investment in AI war drones.
History 2002–2004: Formation and early years Jamie Stewart formed Xiu Xiu in 2002 after their previous band, Ten in the Swear Jar, disbanded. Stewart and Cory McCulloch continued from the previous group, and were joined by Yvonne Chen and Lauren Andrews. The band's sound was characterized by its use of indigenous instruments and programmed drums in place of traditional rock instruments: harmonium, mandolin, brass bells, gongs, keyboards, and a cross between a guitarrón mexicano and a cello for bass, etc.
On February 19, 2002, Xiu Xiu released their first album Knife Play, and its successor EP Chapel of the Chimes, on August 13, 2002, blending both melody and cacophony with a heavy reliance on percussive instrumentation and brass instrumentation. In a review of the album, Pitchfork remarked, "Each track on Knife Play is like a rock song captured in a photo negative, with all the hidden details brought frighteningly to the fore".
Following 2002, the group would shrink in membership as Yvonne Chen left to focus on her vegan boutique Otsu and self-published magazine Zum, while Cory McCulloch also stopped touring, focusing instead on producing the band's next two LPs. A personal loss would affect Xiu Xiu as well, as Jamie Stewart's father, musician and record producer Michael Stewart was found dead after an apparent suicide. Coping with this loss, Stewart would record the group's second album, A Promise, which released on February 18, 2003.
Continuing to focus on the subject matter of Jamie Stewart's personal life – as witnessed previously by Knife Play – A Promise acts like a concept record of internal despair. Consisting of ten tracks, the record was oriented towards a more or less acoustic presentation, rather than relying on the booming brass and percussion which had worked to make Knife Play. However, the record did not veer from the formulated programming for which Stewart and McCulloch would be praised by fans and critics alike. A Promise also contains a cover of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car", a version that has been praised for its stripped sound and Stewart's distressing vocals.
During this time, Stewart recorded Fag Patrol, which was released on May 27, 2003, a collection of previous recorded material as well as covers of songs by The Smiths and their previous group with McCulloch, Ten in the Swear Jar. Released as a handmade CD by Rob Fisk's and Kelly Goodefisk's Free Porcupine Society, Fag Patrol was limited to only a few hundred copies (however saw a CD repress in 2005, and a vinyl reissue by Improved Sequence in 2021).
On February 17, 2004, Stewart and McCulloch released what is considered by many to be the group's most accessible album, Fabulous Muscles. More pop-friendly in its sound than previous releases, Fabulous Muscles boosted Xiu Xiu to new heights in terms of popularity, largely thanks to its single "I Luv the Valley OH!". The tone of the album reflected an "incredibly, incredibly violent, incredibly jarring, and difficult to take" string of events in Stewart's life. Stewart described their lyrics as "never fictional". They told Pitchfork that Xiu Xiu songs are based around five topics: family, politics, sex, love and lovelessness, suicide, and how they are connected.
With the departure of Lauren Andrews in 2003 – who wished to focus on her academic studies – Stewart was joined on stage by their "long-lost" cousin, Caralee McElroy in 2004. The two would tour relentlessly throughout that year, releasing not only the group's third LP, but also split recordings with This Song Is a Mess But So Am I and Bunkbed, along with the "Fleshettes" single – which featured a rendition of the Ten in the Swear Jar track "Helsabot" by McElroy.
2004–2010: La Forêt to Dear God, I Hate Myself Seen as a return to Stewart's more dark and crabby demeanor, Xiu Xiu's fourth album La Forêt, which released on July 12, 2005, alluded to a frustration which Stewart had felt throughout the process of recording their 2004 record. Centered around the topic of "horrible times in horrible lives" as well as Stewart's personal frustrations with then-U.S. President George W. Bush, La Forêt is characterized by an altogether different sound – layered by mandolin, harmonium, clarinet, cello, autoharp, and tuba. In addition to La Forêt, Xiu Xiu would join Italian experimental group Larsen in forming XXL, which released its first LP, ¡Ciaütistico!, on September 20, 2005, followed later by its successor ¿Spicchiology?, on May 22, 2007. Stewart also issued formative splits throughout 2005, working with artists such as The Paper Chase, Devendra Banhart, and Kill Me Tomorrow.
In 2006, Stewart would break from tradition by ending their professional relationship with McCulloch. They then started recording with San Francisco–based band Deerhoof's drummer Greg Saunier as producer for Xiu Xiu's fifth LP entitled The Air Force which released on September 12, 2006. Saunier, who had previously worked with Stewart on Knife Play, created for the record a greater wall of sound – a stark contrast to that of McCulloch's discordant attitude towards production. The Air Force would be supported throughout 2006 by a three piece ensemble, as Stewart and McElroy were joined by drummer/percussionist Ches Smith, who himself had previously worked with the group on Knife Play. Produced by Greg Saunier, Stewart said that the album is about "making other people feel bad" instead of feeling bad oneself and the year it was released was "one of the first not dominated by personal tragedies". Its major themes are "guilt and sex as opposed to sorrow and sex". Stewart considered it their best and most consciously pop album yet. They said that the band was obsessed with Weezer's Blue Album and The Smiths' The Queen Is Dead while on tour, though the album does not reflect those albums particularly. The Air Force also contained the band's first album-based songs without vocals by Stewart – with McElroy singing "Hello From Eau Claire", as well as the instrumental piece "Saint Pedro Glue Stick".
A third EP – Tu mi piaci ("I like you") – of cover songs originally recorded by acts such as Bauhaus, Nedelle, Big Star, The Pussycat Dolls, and Nina Simone was released on June 20, 2006, along with a collaboration with ambient artist Grouper, entitled Creepshow which released on November 7, 2006. The following year, on April 10, 2007, Xiu Xiu released Remixed & Covered, a double album with the first disc consisting of covers of Xiu Xiu songs performed by other bands and artists such as Devendra Banhart, Oxbow, and Sunset Rubdown among others, and the second disc consisting of remixes of Xiu Xiu songs from the likes of Grouper, Kid606, and Gold Chains among others.
Shortly thereafter, Xiu Xiu would release their sixth album, Women as Lovers, on January 28, 2008. Their longest LP to date, Women as Lovers attempts to hone the synth-pop influences of the group's sound. Stewart's and McElroy's duet with Michael Gira of Swans on a cover of David Bowie and Queen's "Under Pressure" is representative of this. Touring that year alongside Xiu Xiu aluminist Devra Hoff on bass, the band's second four-piece incarnation would not last long, as Hoff abruptly left the group soon after touring began.
In May 2009, it was revealed that Caralee McElroy would no longer work with Xiu Xiu. Speculations ran as to what reasons McElroy had for leaving the group after five years of recording and touring, though no explanation was given other than her subsequent membership in Manhattan-based darkwave group Cold Cave, which she soon after departed from in 2010. With the vacancies left by both Hoff and McElroy, Stewart and Smith recruited Angela Seo in late 2009. Thereafter, the group would begin work on its seventh album Dear God, I Hate Myself, recording in both Oakland, California as well as Durham, North Carolina. Once again shifting motifs, Xiu Xiu would this time choose to experiment with video game-based programming, using the KORG DS-10 music creation program game cartridge on the Nintendo DS to write many of the songs which appear on the album, which released on February 23, 2010. The music video for the song "Dear God, I Hate Myself" received attention online in. The video consists of Seo inducing vomiting over the course of the three-minute song, culminating with her vomiting on Stewart, who has been eating a chocolate bar during the entire video. Seo and Stewart have defended the video online and in interviews, stating that the video illustrates the subject of the song in an extreme and visceral fashion.
2010–2017: Always to Forget
In 2010, Xiu Xiu left Kill Rock Stars and signed with both Bella Union and Polyvinyl. Xiu Xiu released Always on these new labels on February 28, 2012. It was called "magnificent" and given 5 stars by The Independent and given a 9/10 by Drowned in Sound. Xiu Xiu also released a split single with Dirty Beaches as well as a split LP with Chad VanGaalen in 2012.
On April 23, 2013, Stewart and Eugene Robinson of Oxbow released the collaborative album Xiu Xiu & Eugene S. Robinson Present: Sal Mineo on Important Records after having toured Europe together in February to promote the project.
In an email sent to fans on January 28, 2013, Xiu Xiu announced that "Ches Smith, Mary Halvorson, Tim Berne, Tony Malaby, Andrea Parkins and Jamie Stewart just finished recording an album in NYC of free jazz and art song versions of all Nina Simone songs". The album, Nina, was released on Graveface Records on December 3, 2013.