More than a decade ago, XTC was very much the challenging British New Wave band, making hyperactive, abrasive music – the group's 1978 debut LP was called, appropriately enough, White Music. On ingenious middle-period albums like Black Sea (1980) and English Settlement (1982), XTC metamorphosed into the quintessential quirky pop group, all the while fleshing out its sound as the group delved further and further into the possibilities of the recording studio – XTC's only forum since the band stopped touring in 1982. XTC's endlessly clever records and tight, self-contained singles won a following of fans and critics whose fanaticism almost made up for the band's lackluster sales figures.

On Skylarking (1986), Andy Partridge, the band's main lead singer and writer, let a more melodious streak – as well as a dash of sentimentality – come to the fore, which broadened XTC's audience. In the process, the band has accomplished the remarkable feat of pulling the kinks out of its music without sacrificing its peerless originality. The band members have become the deans of a group of artists who make what can only be described as unpopular pop music, placing a high premium on melody and solid if idiosyncratic songcraft. Throughout their long career, the members of XTC have made consistently excellent music, and Oranges and Lemons, happily, finds them at the height of their considerable powers.

Ambitious, and ultimately delightful, Oranges and Lemons is XTC's ninth album (tenth, if you count Psonic Psunspot, an affectionate psychedelic sendup the band recorded two years ago as the Dukes of Stratosphear, who also have an EP to their name). It's difficult to determine whether the beauty of this album stems from the exquisite construction of the songs, the indelible melodies or the relentlessly benevolent mood of the lyrics.

Oranges and Lemons is preoccupied with the joys and tribulations of fatherhood and the state of the world today's children are entering – Partridge is the father of two young children, ages three and one. When someone sings, "I love you," on this album, it's as likely to be directed at offspring as at a lover: "Garden of Earthly Delights," "Mayor of Simpleton," "Hold Me My Daddy," "Pink Thing" and "Chalkhills and Children" all hinge on parent-child relationships. But the music is far from treacly as it wanders through Peter Max rock ("Mayor of Simpleton"), McCartneyesque pop ("Pink Thing") and leisurely jazz fusion ("Miniature Sun").

Though it has always managed to steer clear of Beatlemania territory, XTC has become increasingly open about the Fab Four's influence, while still remaining very much its own band. Never mind the Yellow Submarine-like album cover – listen to the "Penny Lane" trumpets in "Merely a Man" and to "Here Comes President Kil Again," with its middle eight straight out of the White Album. In fact, it could be argued that if Skylarking was XTC's Sgt. Pepper, then Oranges and Lemons is its White Album.

Producer Paul Fox let the band members indulge themselves a little more than did Todd Rundgren, who clashed with them over the making of Skylarking. For one thing, this fifty-eight-minute, fifteen-track marvel is a double album. And where Skylarking was lush and pastoral, Oranges and Lemons has a generally harsher, noisier sound that recalls the band's earlier work. On first listening to the album, XTC's melodies seem overwhelmed by the densely layered arrangements and center-stage percussion. But on repeated listenings, the curtains part and hooks are all you hear, thanks in no small part to Dave Gregory's tasty guitar fills, marvels of elegance that use a wide-ranging palette of sounds.

Oranges and Lemons was recorded in L.A., about as foreign an environment as one could imagine for these inveterate Englishmen, and the city's hustle and bustle must account for the album's bright, busy atmosphere. Fittingly, the most gentle song on the album, "Chalkhills and Children," is an ode to the band's native southern England. The title of the record itself comes from an old English children's rhyme (which figured prominently in George Orwell's 1984 as a reminder of old England).

"Garden of Earthly Delights" – a very young person's guide to the world – kicks off the album with a clangorous but bouncy psychedelic groove. "This is your life and you'll be what you want to be/Just don't hurt nobody/Less of course they ask you," sings Partridge, addressing some newcomer to the human fold.

"Mayor of Simpleton" is Partridge's New Wave update of Sam Cooke's "Wonderful World." Whereas Cooke didn't "know much about biology," Partridge admits he's "never been near a university ... but I know one/Thing and that's I love you." He goes on to say that he doesn't "know how to write a big hit song," which may well be true. But XTC's second songwriter and inventive bassist, Colin Moulding, gives it his best shot on the very next track. Similar in sound and sentiment to Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," the incandescent "King for a Day" sounds like the massive hit XTC has waited years for.

The Dukes of Stratosphear records, on which XTC looked back in fondness to the Sixties, seem like études for Oranges and Lemons. Having studied the brush strokes of old masters such as the Beatles, the Hollies and Pink Floyd, XTC has effortlessly incorporated them into its own artful music. XTC's roots aren't in the Mississippi Delta, the honky-tonks of Nashville or the blues joints on the South Side of Chicago; they're in the grand tradition of British pop, and finally, in a grand tradition of their own. (RS 548)

MICHAEL AZERRAD