English Settlement

by XTC

English Settlement cover art
  • Type: Album
  • Released: 12 February 1982
  • Label: Virgin
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Length: 1:12:16
  • Community rating: 4.25/5 from 12 ratings

Artists on this release: Colin Moulding, Andy Partridge, Terry Chambers, Dave Gregory

Album Notes & Community Reviews

As XTC's first double album, 'English Settlement' marked a significant turn towards a more pastoral and intricate sound, deliberately crafted by the band and co-producer Hugh Padgham to be less suited for live performance. The arrangements foreground acoustic and 12-string electric guitars, fretless bass, and complex, layered rhythms, while lyrically shifting to address broader social issues like economic anxiety and political violence. This pivotal release was the band's commercial peak in the UK, yet the cancellation of its supporting tour due to Andy Partridge's health struggles permanently established XTC as a studio-only project.

Genres

Descriptors: british, melodic, infectious, literary, political, guitars, witty, acoustic

Tracklist

  1. Runaways (04:34)
  2. Ball And Chain (04:32)
  3. Senses Working Overtime (04:50)
  4. Jason And The Argonauts (06:07)
  5. No Thugs In Our House (05:09)
  6. Yacht Dance (03:56)
  7. All Of A Sudden (It's Too Late) (05:21)
  8. Melt The Guns (06:34)
  9. Leisure (05:02)
  10. It's Nearly Africa (03:55)
  11. Knuckle Down (04:28)
  12. Fly On The Wall (03:19)
  13. Down In The Cockpit (05:27)
  14. English Roundabout (03:59)
  15. Snowman (05:03)

Credits

  • Colin Moulding - lead vocals, backing vocals, fretless bass, fender bass, mini-korg synthesizer, piano, percussion, songwriter, bass guitar
  • Andy Partridge - lead vocals, backing vocals, electric guitar, semi-acoustic electric 12-string guitar, semi-acoustic electric guitar, acoustic guitar, mini-korg synthesizer, prophet v synthesizer, anklung, alto saxophone, percussion, frog noises, songwriter, 12 string guitar, electro-acoustic guitar, amplification, sound effects, composed by
  • Dave Gregory - prophet v synthesizer, electric 12-string guitar, mini-korg synthesizer, backing vocals, percussion, electric guitar, nylon-string spanish guitar, fuzz-boxed 12-string guitar, semi-acoustic electric 12-string guitar, piano, spanish guitar, fuzzbox
  • Terry Chambers - drums, drum synthesiser, percussion, backing vocals, synthesizer
  • XTC - producer, mixed by
  • Hugh Padgham - producer, engineer, mixed by, backing vocals
  • Ken Ansell - artwork
  • Howard Gray - engineer [assisted by], assisted by
  • Art Dragon - illustration
  • Jonz - lacquer cut by
  • Allan Ballard - photography by
  • Hans de Vente - backing vocals

More from XTC: full discography