tour] when we were 17 and we missed out on that chunk of our lives when everyone else was partying." However, he insisted that "we're not looking to make people dance." They were also influenced by pop-reggae band UB40, folk act White Hinterland, and neo soul artist Van Hunt, all of whom they listened to while recording Coexist. Croft viewed the music as a continuation of their debut, "developed, but [not] like completely a world away". Rather than expand on their debut's sound, the xx wanted to minimise the songs they recorded for Coexist and mute certain elements during its production. Croft felt that this would help make the music more playable live instead of having to reproduce multiple vocal or guitar elements that were tracked onto a song. Smith, who produced and mixed Coexist, wanted to keep his production simple and create an emotive, electronic sound. He used Logic Pro recording software, a Space Echo effects unit, preamplifiers, and Casiotones on occasion, as well as both synthesised steelpan sounds and live percussion instruments. To engineer the album, he put together a mixing desk from pieces of other desks and left doors open during the recording to let sounds from outside the studio bleed into the mix. The xx finished recording Coexist in May 2012. Musical style The songs on Coexist, which Edna Gundersen of USA Today categorised as indie pop, eschew melodic structure for minimalist dynamics and sparse sounds. John Calvert of Fact asserts that it is "a far more meditative album" for deviating from its predecessor's "tight, brisk pop songs", "nuanced [guitar] interplay", and "light dynamics". Jon Caramanica of The New York Times comments that songs "unfold ... beginning as pointillist sketches and ending up as huge, blurry color blocks." Reflecting the band's electronic dance influences, Coexist features atmospheric, dance-orientated song structures, deemphasises traditional verse-chorus form, and incorporates influences from dubstep and rave music. Drowned in Sounds Hayden Woolley writes that the music features "watercolour textures and rhythms that seem to lock-in to the ebbing pulse and cadences of the body." Rory Gibb of The Quietus believes that Coexist is neither a "pop" nor "downtempo dance record", but occupies "a hazy space between the two" and is an attempt at "post-Burial pop". Simon Price of The Independent asserts that "rather than clubland, Coexist owes a debt to comedown/chillout culture". The songs are characterised by droning harmonies, simple chord