Two Doses Of XTC In 1999

07/30/1998 2:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(7/30/98, 12 p.m. PDT) - As we first reported in June (myLAUNCH, 6/24), veteran British popsmiths XTC are preparing to make a comeback on TVT Records in the U.S.

The label has announced that it will release two XTC albums in 1999--one during the first quarter and a second set in the Fall. The first album, according to the label, is a "mixture of orchestral and acoustic melodies along with the band's trademark lyrical content." The Fall '99 album will be more of a traditional XTC pop album.

XTC's Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding are working the untitled "orchestral" album with producers Haydn Bendall and Nick Davis, who produced the band's Nonsuch album. The album, which is being recorded at Abbey Road Studios and Moulding's home, will also feature former XTC guitarist Dave Gregory and the 120-piece London Sessions Symphony.

"I like to call it an Orch-ustic record, really," Partridge explained. "It's not rock 'n' roll and we like it!"