English Settlement (CD)

English Settlement 1982. Released as a double album, this is XTC at the height of their powers. A stylistic triumph, where country/folk cheerfully rubs shoulders with anthemic pop. Andy: “”I gave away my acoustic guitar in a TV contest and had to buy a new one, suddenly all these new tunes flowed out! Colin gets fretless, Dave goes 12-string, Terry still ‘just ‘it’s ’em’. This 15-track warehouse of songs sounds expansive, fresh, unfinished and vast. It was to become many people’s favourite XTC album.”” Andy: “”Why don’t we make an album we don’t have to reproduce on stage? We can use acoustic instruments, we can overdub keyboards, we can use pianos… The first of the multi-coloured records.”” Originally released on 12 February 1982 in the U.K. Reached No. 5 on the U.K. album chart. Reached No. 48 on the Billboard album chart in the U.S.A.