The xx’s stage set-up is quite simple: an all-black backdrop with two Xs that glow with quasar-like intensity. The band’s 39-minute, self-titled debut is similarly unassuming – which is a primary reason why it’s so damn good. The music wafts like weightless clouds. Each time you listen to the album, it gets better.

The young British electro dream-pop trio – playing the Henry Miller Library tonight – haven’t had time to breathe since its debut album hit the streets less than a year ago; the inconspicuous masterpiece garnered immediate widespread acclaim from media worldwide. Slant Magazine wrote “[The album’s] understated pleasures will surely amount to one of the year’s most treasured releases.”

“We definitely didn’t set out to make minimalist music,” says singer-guitarist Romy Madley Croft on her way to a sound check in Porto, Portugal. “It’s kind of by accident that our music is minimal; we’re only a trio and we only record what we can play live.”

The first three songs, beginning with the spacey and translucent instrumental “Intro,” set an alluringly soulful prelude to the other eight tracks. But the most astonishing thing about the album may be that these 20-year-old artists decided to produce it on their own.

“[Other producers] would put their own touches on our songs,” Croft says. “We realized that the songs didn’t need anything added to them.”

Croft explains that the songwriting process usually begins with lyrics written by herself or Oliver Sim before the melody is sculpted, then Jamie Smith adds the rhythm and any other electronic fill.

On the group’s biggest hit, “Crystalised” – a tune with the same slight genius of Radiohead’s “Videotape” – Croft sings breathily, “Do I have to keep up the pace to keep you satisfied?”

“I don’t even know really what it means,” she says. “I like to leave a bit of room for interpretation of the lyrics and not say too much about them.”

After The xx’s recent tour in Japan, Croft says, she started reading a lot of Japanese poetry, which like the band’s music is often airy and delicate. Though it has inspired the young musician to write new tunes, she’s had very little time to develop anything given the group’s rigorous schedule: The xx have been hitting the festival circuit with full force, playing Coachella, All Tomorrow’s Parties and upcoming Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza. Croft says she has enjoyed seeing bands like Beach House and The Slits and is fired up to see The Pixies play later in the week at the Primavera Festival in Barcelona, which The xx also play.

“Festivals are great because there are so many bands,” Croft says. “I’m always inspired when I get to see gigs.”

Playing the immense festivals has also thrown The xx onto stages in front of the largest audiences they have every performed for.

“Coachella was way more people than we’ve ever played to or have ever expected to play to; it’s really amazing to play in the middle of the desert with the sun setting,” Croft says. “But playing a tiny gig could be quite scary because people are right in your face; I’m more shy in a gig like that than in front of lots of people.”

Croft looks forward to her first visit to Big Sur despite the fact that she’ll be within a few feet of the audience.

“I’ll be nervous because it’s so intimate,” she says, “but it’s also an exciting feeling.”

THE XX plays at 7:30pm Thursday, June 3, at the Henry Miller Library, a quarter mile south of Nepenthe Restaurant on Highway 1, Big Sur. $30 (Sold Out). 667-2574.