The significance of XTC – and how criminally underrated they continue to be – requires little discussion here, and Andy Partridge has been keeping busy in the years since the band called it a day. His latest project sees him covering vocals, guitars, programming and production, and teaming up with Jen Olive (vocals and guitar) and Stu Rowe (bass, guitars, keys, programming and production).
The songs on their eponymous debut EP, out in June, have had a long gestation, being recorded and produced between 2010 and 2023, and ‘Aviatrix’ is the first taste of what to expect.
The press release describes it as ‘an avant-pop delight offering a strange, seductive blend of experimental pop, jazz and sci-fi cinema excellence’; the band meanwhile describe themselves as ‘a three-headed Frankenstein's monster dancing at a neurodivergent singles club’.
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Hearing ‘Aviatrix’ suggests both of these are fair descriptions: it’s an easy, breezy, calypso-inspired tune that’s busy with ideas and instruments, with some particularly exuberant sax tooting in the breaks between the lilting, gliding vocal harmonies. It’s smooth, mellow, but also out of the ordinary and puts a spin on all of the myriad elements they’ve spun together here. It’s strange, but interesting and accessible, and credit to not just Partridge but all three of them that they’ve not produced something safe or standard.
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