Test Me

This song is about the dynamics between The xx's Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim. For a time, Oliver struggled with alcoholism and the pair would exchange harsh words about his behavior. This song, where Romy addresses her feelings at how Oliver is trying her patience, is so brutal it could only have been written from a strong friendship.

Madley Croft wrote all the lyrics and turned her back to Sim when she first played it to him. Sim recalled the moment to Pitchfork. "It was hard, but we had a hug. It was good for me to hear."

Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim have been friends since they played in the same preschool sandpit as toddlers. This song touches on the challenges of close friendships. She explained to NPR: "['Test Me'] is about a sort of hard time in our friendship, between Oliver and I - and a time when all three of us were quite distant from each other emotionally and geographically. It sort of represents a new time of us actually talking about things rather than just pushing them down, and I think that was a good thing. Sometimes we would say things to each other in the music before we could say it to each other."