XTC
Nonsuch

THE REVIEW

What if the Beatles had never split up? Let's do a bit of musical fantasy. Paul and John do not argue and continue to write songs together and, after Sergent Pepper's, their music takes a different path from the one history tells us.

One of the possible paths might then lead to the music of XTC, and this wonderful album could be theirs in this parallel future. However, history did not go that way (unfortunately or fortunately?), and Nonsuch is an XTC album released in 1991. Partridge and Moulding, the soul of XTC, (who certainly should not be considered clones or emulators of Lennon and McCartney) write edgy and refined music with a very exuberant and characteristic personality. Here, music is made for the sake of making music. No existential message, no frustration to vent, no "serious" musical discourse. Here there's just the desire to have fun with music, writing songs that enchant and surprise with their sudden melodic and harmonic turns (one wonders if this is the pure use that music should have).

Unlike other XTC albums that require multiple listens to be digested, Nonsuch intrigues and hooks you almost immediately, and for this reason, it could be a good starting point to get to know them. Talking about the tracks one by one would be too long and complex, better to let them pleasantly prick your eardrums. XTC's music is meant to be listened to on headphones or at volumes that reveal its harmonic and timbral complexity. Each song is a universe of musical colors, a labyrinth to navigate, seeking an exit that's never where you expect it to be. Listen after listen, they accompany you into their musical world. You can smell the fragrances, see the colors. They will get under your skin and every now and then, after sampling music of all kinds, when you just crave music and nothing else, music without idealistic aftershocks or various paranoias. When you feel the need for some "musical tickling," you might want to revisit their bittersweet melodies.