XTC: Skylarking (Vinyl LP)

Skylarking is the 1986 album that finally gave XTC a significant profile on American college radio. In the XTC timeline, Skylarking slots neatly between 25 O’Clock and Psonic Psunspot, the EP and album released by the band’s psychedelic alter ego, The Dukes Of Stratosphear; and with hindsight, it seems inarguable that the Dukes’ dilated-pupil worldview and vivid color palette leached into Skylarking’s mood of existential wonder and contemplation.

The band ended up with an album that radiates warmth, wit, compassion, and unanimity of purpose; one which is often cited, with good reason, as one of the brightest jewels in the XTC crown. The songwriting is next-level, the sequencing is inspired, the musicianship is seamless and the arrangements are both supportive and striking.

Released on October 27, 1986, Skylarking, tacitly acknowledged to be not just one of XTC’s best albums, but one of the best albums ever, modestly nosed into the UK charts for a single week. But bare chart statistics have never reflected XTC’s critical stock and the respect they command in the musical community, far less the undying love they still inspire from a fittingly ecstatic global fanbase. It’s always a special thrill to expose this album to people who haven’t heard it before and register their expressions of rapture and amazement. Try it yourself.

1. Summer's Cauldron
2. Grass
3. The Meeting Place
4. That's Really Super Supergirl
5. Ballet For A Rainy Day
6. 1000 Umbrellas
7. Season Cycle
8. Earn Enough For Us
9. Big Day
10. Another Satellite
11. Mermaid Smiled
12. The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul
13. Dear God
14. Dying
15. Sacrificial Bonfire