The xx announce three intimate UK shows

The xx will warm up for their summer comeback with three intimate gigs in London. Ahead of performances at Bestival, Primavera and Heineken's Open'er festival, the Mercury prize winners play concerts in Islington, Clapton and Battersea, plus a pair of appearances in France. The band's latest songs will be unveiled for the first time at Electrowerkz in north London on 14 May. Further concerts at two intimate venues – Clapton's Chats Palace and the Battersea Arts Centre – may or may not prepare the xx for Primavera, two weeks later: the Barcelona festival expects attendance of more than 100,000 people. To earn a ticket to one of the xx's London gigs, fans must apply via a lottery on the band's website . The winners will be permitted to buy up to four tickets for one concert, for £19.50 each. Entries will close on 9 May. The xx have been even quieter than usual over the past year, working on the follow-up to their acclaimed debut. Despite launching a dedicated website for their new LP , the band have shared little on it besides some of their favourite videos by other bands. In March, they posted a photograph of a curtain . So far, the only new music sample they have made available is Open Eyes , a demo released in December. In addition to winning the 2009 Mercury prize, the xx's self-titled LP was named the Guardian's album of the year , and won our First Album award . It has sold more than 400,000 copies in the UK. The xx's summer touring schedule is as follows: 05-14 London, England – Electrowerkz 05-15 London, England – Chats Palace 05-18 London, England – Battersea Arts Centre 05-29 Bordeaux, France – Le Rocher De Palmer 05-30 Toulouse, France – Le Phare 05-31 Barcelona, Spain – Primavera Sound 06-08 Turin, Italy – Traffic festival 06-09 Porto, Portugal – Primavera Sound 06-15 Aarhus, Denmark – Northside festival 06-16 Hultsfred, Sweden – Hultsfred festival 06-22 Scheessel, Germany – Hurricane festival 06-23 Neuhausen, Germany – Southside festival 06-27 Haervic, Norway – Hove Festival 06-29 Arras, France – Main Square festival 06-30 Werchter, Belgium – Rock Werchter 07-07 Gdynia, Poland – Heineken Open'er festival 07-14 Joensuu, Finland – Ilosaarirock festival 08-09 Sibinek, Croatia – Terraneo festival 08-10 Budapest, Hungary – Sziget festival 08-11 St Pere, France – La Route du Rock 08-18 St Polten, Austria – FM4 Frequency festival 08-19 Biddinghuizen, Netherlands – Lowlands festival 08-31 Laois, Ireland – Electric Picnic 09-07 Isle of White, England – Bestival