The xx win UK Mercury music prize for debut set

Their critically acclaimed album, a sleepy but intoxicating mix of electronic beats and understated vocals, was ranked number two on NME magazine's Best of the Year list, and reached number 10 in the UK charts.

“We've had the most incredible year,” xx frontman Sim said. “It feels like every day we wake up to something incredible. It hasn't sunken in to be honest.”

They beat 11 other nominees including rapper Dizzee Rascal with his platinum album, “Tongue N'Cheek,” veteran musician Paul Weller's 10th solo album, “Wake up the Nation,” and Corrine Bailey Rae's “The Sea.”

The award, which honors the best album released in the past 12 months, comes with a 20,000-pound (US$30,740) prize and is likely to boost the band's record sales.

One of the judges, Simon Frith, who has chaired the Mercury Prize panel since it began in 1992, said the winning album captures something of the slightly anxious mood of the country.

“They have that urban soundscape where they are not exactly secure,” Frith said. “That late night feeling where you like the city, and it's exhilarating, but you don't know what's going to happen.”

Sim said the band's next move would be a U.S. tour and then some domestic changes.

“We have our last tour coming up around the states, then we're coming home and moving out and getting our own homes.”

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