The label’s in-house producer has a few updates for fans of the slow-and-steady acts.

The xx are working on a “completely different” follow-up to 2012’s Coexist, according to XL studio boss Rodaidh McDonald. Speaking to Dazed, the producer and A&R man revealed that the London trio are recording their third album in Texas and Iceland.

“There are songs which have come out of our experiences in New York and Texas that would never have come out in London; the colours and the ideas and the moods on some of these songs are just not things you would write in London,” he said.

“It’s about opening things up a bit more. They are a London band, but they’re also a band that’s spent a lot of time in different countries. So we’re trying to push that further with the Iceland trip, which is happening in July.”

McDonald has also been working with reclusive London producer Jai Paul on his long-awaited debut album, but isn’t confident that it will appear anytime soon.

“I did something with him last week, some vocal production on a new song. We finished it, whether he wants to put it out or not I don’t know,” he said.

“It’s just a very long process for him I guess, he’s been working on (his album) for years. One of the things that I sort of identified was that he might benefit from some help using vocals. But his music sounds so good, he doesn’t need any help, I think he’s perfect.”

Last April an album purporting to be Jai Paul’s debut leaked on Bandcamp but was swiftly disowned by XL, who declared it “a collection of various unfinished recordings from Jai’s past.”