Albums That Changed Music: XTC - English Settlement

➡️➡️Learn more about English Settlement by XTC here: https://producelikeapro.com/blog/albums-that-changed-music-xtc-english-settlement/

XTC first formed under the name Star Park in 1972, and then Helium Kidz in 1973. The band spent a time trying out different styles, at one point wanting to be like the New York Dolls. Between ’73 and ’75, frontman and primary songwriter Andy Partridge wrote hundreds of songs in that vain that failed to gain any real traction.

The group rebranded itself again, finally settling on the name XTC. Partridge at least partially credits hearing the Sex Pistols in 1976 for taking the band in a new direction, saying: “[Hearing ‘Anarchy in the UK’] sort of spurred me on – watching this stuff that I thought was rather average.”

XTC began pursuing their own voice, recording four albums between 1978 and 1980. The group saw their first commercial breakthrough with Drums and Wires in 1979, which featured two charting singles written by bassist Colin Moulding: “Life Begins at the Hop” and the breakthrough “Making Plans for Nigel.”

Moulding has said of both tracks, “I wanted to ditch that quirky nonsense and do more straight-ahead pop.” -Colin Moulding

The album was also the band’s first collaboration with the powerhouse production/engineering duo Steve Lillywhite and Hugh Padgham, which introduced a thunderous drum sound to XTC’s arrangements.

Padgham’s invention of gated reverb while working with Phil Collins became the quintessential drum sound of the ‘80s.

This sound was further explored on the band’s fourth album, Black Sea, in 1980, again with Lillywhite and Padgham handling production and engineering respectively.

Partridge recalls, “[Black Sea’s production was like] Drums and Wires to the Nth degree … The drums got boomier and bigger and more gated and more aggressive, and the guitars got slashier, with more punch to them.”

With two breakthrough albums under their collective belt, 1982’s English Settlement marked a departure from their previously successful style. This time, Partridge pushed the group towards pastoral pop, with an emphasis on acoustic instruments, longer songs, and more intricate arrangements.

The ambitious double album would be the band’s highest-charting record, and have a lasting impact on music in the decades that followed.

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