With a strong live reputation, SX takes you into the exotic reality. Natural elements such as Stefanie’s raw, vigorous voice and primal percussion are being contrasted with abstract, futuristic digital elements. This results in a pure, authentic sound and a class performance that keeps arising.

After the mesmerizing song ‘Black Video’ got discovered through social media, SX became the new revelation in the Belgian music scene, being highlighted as the next Belgian music export product.



On that account, SX appeared on numerous festivals and music venues throughout continental Europe including Rock Werchter (Belgium), Melkweg (Amsterdam), Paradiso (Amsterdam), Silencio (Paris), Casino de Paris (Paris), Astra (Berlin), Magazzini Generali (Milan), Ancienne Belgique (Brussels), Arena (Vienna). During this period they also supported acts like Vampire Weekend, Poliça and Ariel Pink.


Brooklyn band ‘Yeasayer’ embraced SX and took them along their European tour. SX linked this to a stand alone sold out club tour in Belgium and received gold status in the Benelux.

Also artists from outside the music field are intrigued by the SX biotope. An example of this is the collaboration with Dries Van Noten for the presentation of his Winter 2015-2016 collection.


----

SX / press text on Alphabet (album 2016)

Imagine the mysticism of Van Eyck running into the surrealism of Magritte on some Balearic beach at 6 o’clock in the morning. en imagine the two passionately falling into each other’s arms like two disciples of acclaimed Belgian choreographer Damien Jalet. Finally, imagine what the baby of that joyously odd, yet strangely fitting one-morning stand might look or – better yet – sound like. Suffering from a severe lack of imagination? We’ve got your back! Just listen to Alphabet, the sophomore album of Belgium’s most avant-garde pop outfit SX, and you’ll know what we’re talking about.

Four years after the duo’s debut album Arche struck gold in their native country, SX returns with a more confident, stripped, fiery, harmonious and ultimately also more seductive album. ‘I like to call it exotic reality’, says sonic witchdoctor Benjamin Desmet about Alphabet’s sound. ‘In the sense that we look for the unexpected in the realm of both our imagination and the world around us’, adds Stefanie Callebaut, SX’s captivating frontwoman. ‘We love to experiment and push the boundaries of pop music – adding both gospel and techno along the way.’

Mind you, rewriting the rules of pop has always been part of the band’s DNA – ever since storming onto the airwaves with the dreamy lo-fi synthpop tune Black Video in 2011. ‘But we were just kids back then’, says Callebaut about the years leading up to Arche. ‘Listening to it today, I often get the impression that certain songs contain enough darlings for two tracks! is time around, we wanted to do as much as possible with as little as possible.’

In case you’re wondering: Arche is Greek for ‘beginning’, while Alphabet is the band’s way of saying they’ve now found all the letters they need to write songs – ‘pure and simple’, according to Callebaut. ‘ ere’s a certain serenity to how we make music now, but also still very much a sense of wonder and – ultimately – harmony.’ e same goes for SX’s stunning music videos, which the two band members direct themselves. Desmet: ‘ ey are an essential part of the sensory experience that is SX.’

An even bigger part of that experience is frontwoman Stefanie Callebaut’s captivation with movement. ‘To the extent that it sometimes almost gets in the way of the music’, she admits – only half-joking. ‘It definitely happened that we were working on a track and Benjamin came up with something brilliant – musically – but I just couldn’t bring my body to dance to it. So we cut it. It’s never just about what’s going on in my head. I need to feel our music in my fingers, toes and pretty much every other part of my body.’

Chances are: so will you. Alphabet is nothing short of a sultry wonder: ‘Pretty abstract but also very human’, asserts Desmet. ‘Surreal but concrete. Less but more. A product of our bewilderment and fascination for the world around us. Sort of like a painting of René Magritte, who also stuck to simple yet powerful, inventive and deliciously odd images – full of color and humanity.’ In a nutshell, that’s precisely what Alphabet is about.