And then there were two

Only Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding remain from one of the most appealing bands to emerge from Britain's post-punk boom, and this album represents the second part of their Apple Venus project, the first having been released last spring.

Gone is the anger that marked so much of their earlier work, replaced with a beautifully dichotic romantic cynicism. The Swindon boys have mastered the art of growing up gracefully.

While the music is spiced with the pop psychedelia that harks back to their Dukes of Strathosphear

incarnation, the real pleasure is in the lyrics. Moulding is the more straightforward of the two, but his simplicity belies a sad fascination with the impetus-sapping minutiae of modern life; if he wrote plays, he'd be Alan Bennet.

Always the more experimental of the two, Partridge is more indirect in his use of metaphor and situation, but again the theme is modern life juxtaposed with male sexual and romantic insecurity.

Despite this, an almost childlike optimism is present here; XTC will not apologise for being loved and loving back, even if they can't figure out the phenomenon.

This is wonderful stuff.