The XX - angels, 2012

"Angels" is a sparsely-produced, gentle ballad about the idea of being in love. It has a measured pace and features slight vocals and whispered cadences by Croft, background baritone bass, subtle drum thuds, and coiling guitar lines. Pitchfork Media's Larry Fitzmaurice observes on the song "lots of hollow space surrounding [that] add[s] intimacy." "Angels" opens with echoey guitar and Romy's vocals, which are at the front of the mix. Eerie snare rolls appear within a minute of the song, but quickly fade away. Arnold Pan of PopMatters writes that, in the context of Coexist, the song has its "own sense of development" and "resolution". Oliver Sim said of this moment of tension in the song, "Early on, Jamie said something about the album being inspired by dance music, so everyone's expecting a house beat to drop halfway through—which is hilarious because this is not a dance record."