White horse of Uffington
In 1982 XTC released their first double LP titled "English Settlement". An album that comes at the time the band was at their creative and artistical peak. After 4 new wave/post punk albums of electric guitar the arrival of accoustic guitars were introduced to the sound of the band and a so called pastoral pop sound. After this album the band became a studio-only band.
Senses Working Overtime - single
In some countries they left out 5 songs to make it fit on a single LP. Three singles were issued from the album: "Senses Working Overtime" (UK #10), "Ball and Chain" (UK #58) and "No Thugs in Our House". The last single was released in a special package looking like a puppet show. The album itself reached #5 in the UK and #48 in the US.
Ball And Chain - single
The album cover image is used from the "White Horse", a highly stylized prehistoric hill figure in English civil parish of Uffington, Oxfordshire. It is made of carved trenches filled with crushed white chalk. Archeological excavations showed it is somewhere around 3000 years old.

In March 1982 they started working on new material produced by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley who also produced Madness. They recorded "Ball and Chain", "Punch and Judy", and "Egyptian Solution (Thebes in a Box"). But after the first session Clive Langer left because he felt his input was unnecessary. Then they continued to work with Hugh Padgham again who produced their previous 2 albums.Then on June 2th they performed their last live gig in Cardiff.
XTC in 1982
"Runaways" opens the album and is about child abuse and the effect it has on children. "Ball and Chain" was a song about Margaret Thatcher. "Senses Working Overtime" was their attempt at a commercial song and originally they never intended to release it as a single but it was chosen by Virgin Records as their first single from the album. "Jason And The Argonauts" was inspired by Andy Partridge's travel across the sea and the movie "Jason and the Argonauts" (1963). "No Thugs in Our House" is about a middle-class couple struggling to accept that their son is a violent racist. "Yacht Dance" describes the feeling of overcoming the negatives in life to appreciate the positives. "All of a Sudden (It's Too Late)" is a lyrically sad song about growing up and realizing all of the things that you've missed out on and have no chance to realize. "Leisure" describes technology taking our jobs away and the resulting ways that people waste their livelihoods as they look for jobs.
No Thugs In Our House - single package
"Fly on the Wall" is about "Big Brother" and was inspired by the "Fly On The Wall" documentaries appearing on British television at the time. "Down in the Cockpit" sympathizes with feminists and shows that Patridge is more than willing to accept a woman in his life for the purpose of steering him right. "English Roundabout" is about English city life. Fans of the band argued that it was referring to the magic roundabout in Swindon.
Magic Roundabout in Swindon

Original album cover
English Settlement
Runaways / Ball And Chain / Senses Working Overtime / Jason And The Argonauts / No Thugs In Our House / Yacht Dance / All Of A Sudden (It's Too Late) / Melt The Guns / Leisure / It's Nearly Africa / Knuckle Down / Fly On The Wall / Down In The Cockpit / English Roundabout / Snowman
Ball And Chain
Jason And The Argonauts
Senses Working Overtime