After 20 years and a move to Berlin, Xiu Xiu is still making music for outsiders

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Since its inception more than two decades ago, the experimental rock band Xiu Xiu has danced between extremes. They’ve made music — drenched in synthesizers, breathy vocals and distorted guitar — that is somehow both cacophonous and beautiful, frightening yet poignant, avant-garde yet (mostly) melodic.

In other words, Xiu Xiu’s music can’t be placed neatly into a box, something the band’s leader, Jamie Stewart, knows a thing or two about.

“I don’t say this in a self-aggrandizing way, but I am a very weird person,” Stewart said. “I wish I wasn’t. It’s not fun operating in the world in a way that doesn’t really fit.”

As the prolific band gears up to release their 18th LP, out Friday, Stewart recognizes the ways in which these feelings of otherness have been meaningful for their art and their audience.

“Xiu Xiu is certainly not for everybody. But it is for very specific people, generally for people who are, in one way or another, kind of on the edge of some aspect of life,” Stewart said. “That’s the group of people that we are and that is the group of people for whom we are trying to make records.”

But even as they've stayed weird, Stewart admits there was a shift on “13'' Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips” — a reference to one of Stewart’s switchblades that served as a kind of “talismanic item” during the recording process.

“Almost every single track is set up in the very traditional way that Western folk songs are organized — as a bridge, as a verse, as a chorus. So, in that way, because it’s a style of organizing music that people in the Western world have been aware of for 200 years, it is probably accessible,” they said. “It seems to happen with every record we have ever done where somebody says, ‘It’s their most accessible record,’ which sort of implies to a lot of people that our records must therefore be inaccessible.”

But that accessibility is varied, from the anthemic, easy-listen lead single, “Common Loon,” to “Piña, Coconut & Cherry,” the record’s final song that culminates with Stewart belting bloodcurdling screams about a love that makes them insane.

That variation is a reflection of the types of artists Stewart loves, which ranges from Prince and folk musicians to people who make the most “difficult music that has ever been recorded.”

The band currently comprises Stewart — the sole remaining founding member — along with David Kendrick and Angela Seo, who joined in 2009. Seo says collaborating with any creative partner for 15 years takes work but that her respect for Stewart’s vision and creativity serve as a kind of anchor to keep them together, even when they fight over Stewart being “super picky” about every detail in the studio and on stage.

“I think it’s frustrating, but ultimately we both are like, 'Yeah, that's the goal.' The goal is just to make this the best show possible. And that kind of helps us stick with it,” Seo said.

After living as roommates in Los Angeles for a decade, Seo and Stewart moved to Berlin together through an artist residency program that helped them get visas and paid for their housing during their first few months there. And while living in Berlin has been more practical and financially sustainable, Stewart said it's been a bigger adjustment than expected.

“It’s a little boring,” Stewart admitted. “It’s much safer. I’m much, much, much less stressed out. I don’t have to have a car, which is great. If I have a major health problem, it’s going to be totally fine. Those things are great. The adult parts are great."

“Horn Grips” is the band's first album since their move to Berlin, and that change of scenery has inevitably informed the album's sound. How it does so in future albums is something Stewart is thinking about.

“I’ve been struggling with that a little bit and am just realizing that my external environment for a long time was a big point of inspiration,” Stewart said. “I don’t feel like my creativity is stifled, but it is going through a period of needing to adjust, which is a good thing.”

Angela Seo of the band Xiu Xiu poses for a portrait in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Angela Seo, left, and Jamie Stewart of the band Xiu Xiu pose for a portrait in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Angela Seo, left, and Jamie Stewart of the band Xiu Xiu pose for a portrait in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Angela Seo, left, and Jamie Stewart of the band Xiu Xiu pose for a portrait in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Angela Seo, left, and Jamie Stewart of the band Xiu Xiu pose for a portrait in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Angela Seo, left, and Jamie Stewart of the band Xiu Xiu pose for a portrait in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

NEW YORK (AP) — English actors Tom Hiddleston and Zawe Ashton have welcomed their second child.

Hiddleston confirmed the news to GQ in a feature published Monday. He described birth as the “most beautiful, profound, earth-shattering, life-altering” experience. He did not share his child's birthday, but according to the feature, the interview took place in early December, and the birth was “just the other day.”

Hiddleston, 44, and Ashton, 41, first met while starring in a 2019 revival of the play “Betrayal.” They confirmed their engagement in 2022 and welcomed their first child later that year.

“Becoming a father is the most important and meaningful thing that's ever happened to me, and the most important thing I will ever do,” Hiddleston told The Associated Press earlier this year.

Both Hiddleston and Ashton were born in London. Hiddleston is best known for his portrayal of Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), beginning with the 2011 blockbuster “Thor” and continuing in the Disney+ series, “Loki.”

Ashton is also a member of the MCU, having portrayed Dar-Benn in the 2023 film “The Marvels.” She's also known for roles in “Fresh Meat,” “Not Safe for Work,” Netflix's “Velvet Buzzsaw” and other projects.

Representatives for Hiddleston and Ashton did not immediately reply to AP's request for comment.

FILE - Tom Hiddleston and Zawe Ashton pose for photographers upon arrival at the Season 2 UK Premiere of The Night Manager in London, England, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (Photo by Millie Turner/Invision/AP, File)