The title refers to the Uffington White Horse depicted on the cover, to the "settlement" of viewpoints, and to the Englishness that the band felt they "settled" into the record.

XTC recorded the album at The Manor Studio in Oxfordshire with producer Hugh Padgham, the engineer of their previous two LPs.

Compared to the band's previous releases, English Settlement showcased more complex and intricate arrangements, lengthier songs, lyrics that covered broader social issues, and a wider range of music styles.

[6] During one performance on their 1979–1980 Drums and Wires tour, Partridge suffered momentary amnesia, forgetting XTC's songs as well as his own identity.

[21] Bassist Colin Moulding and guitarist Dave Gregory were confused at Partridge's unwillingness to tour and believed that he would reconsider once the next album was finished.

[22] Further to the band's demoralisation was their poor financial situation, as they never received any of the revenue generated by the increasing number of sold-out shows they performed.

"[4] Compared to the band's previous albums, English Settlement showcased more complex and intricate arrangements,[25][26] lengthier songs, lyrics that covered broader social issues,[27] and a wider range of music styles.

She adds that the styles range from "caterwauling mod-pop" ("Leisure") to "buzzing synthpunk" ("Fly on the Wall") and "full-on ska-pop" ("Down in the Cockpit").

[19] Moulding responded to the new acoustic direction by purchasing an Ibanez fretless bass,[32] while Gregory bought a Rickenbacker 12-string and began contributing more as a keyboardist.

[33] Music critic Chris Woodstra wrote that Gregory, Partridge and Moulding's new instruments, plus Chambers' new drum synthesiser, "set the tone" for the record.

"[35] "Jason and the Argonauts" was born from a guitar riff, with one harmonic line constant and another providing a counterpoint, that reminded Partridge of "traveling across the sea".

The song features tremolo guitar, heavily compressed drums, "buzzing morse code synthesizer" and distorted vocals, qualities not heard on the demo recorded by Moulding.

They are Partridge's "Tissue Tigers (The Arguers)", "Punch and Judy", "Heaven Is Paved with Broken Glass", "Egyptian Solution (Thebes in a Box)" and "Mantis on Parole", Moulding's "Blame the Weather", and the band's "Over Rusty Water".

[42] Some of these later reappeared on the compilations Beeswax: Some B-Sides 1977–1982 (1982), Rag and Bone Buffet: Rare Cuts and Leftovers (1990), Coat of Many Cupboards (2002) and the EP Dear God (1987).

The album cover is based upon the Uffington White Horse in southwest Oxfordshire, which is about 8 miles east of Swindon, Wiltshire, XTC's home town.

[44] Working titles for the LP included Rogue Soup, Motorcycle Landscape, World Colour Banner, Explosion of Flowers and Knights on Fire.

... [The horse is] literally a kind of Iron Age advertisement for an English settlement that was on top of the hill when the first settlers came to England.

[citation needed] Music videos were filmed for "Senses Working Overtime", "No Thugs in Our House", "All of a Sudden (It's Too Late)" and "Ball and Chain".

[49] The band also made a live appearance on The Oxford Road Show, performing "Snowman", "Ball and Chain" and "Jason and the Argonauts".

[59] The next day, XTC were scheduled to play a sold-out show at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, Partridge woke up that morning, he said, and "couldn't get off the bed.

Walked to Ben Frank's coffee shop, where we'd all agreed to meet, in slow motion like I had both legs in plaster, trying not to throw up.

"[60] For a period afterward, it was rumoured among fans and industry insiders that the group stopped performing because Partridge had died, and some American bands put on XTC tribute shows in his remembrance.

[67] Writing for Rolling Stone, Parke Puterbagh stated: "Once again, XTC has managed the difficult feat of sounding accessible even while moving into evermore abstruse and adventuresome territory.

"[63] In Heavy Metal, Lou Stathis wrote that XTC's oft-applied "too clever for their own good" tag was "criminal horseshit" and deemed the album their finest work yet.

[68] Creem's Jim Farber took issue with the political songs, namely "Melt the Guns", and said "The only problem is that the music and vocals of Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding are so entertainingly odd, they tend to deflate the stern-faced lyrics.

[4] Chris Dahlhen of Pitchfork awarded the album's 2001 remaster a perfect score, saying that the music had aged well, and wrote: "English Settlement catches that moment, as they change from a young band to a mature one: this is the pivot on which their entire career hangs, and a vantage point from which both ends of it make sense.

He criticised side three of the vinyl as "an absolute throwaway" that could have jeopardised the record "if the songs surrounding them weren't so damn good.

The band's penchant for spiking the pop punch began a gradual shift towards the pastoral and 'arty,' yet these tunes could hardly be described as pretentious.

[13] Music journalist Jim Keoghan summarised the album's legacy: In the UK, XTC were never again able to capture that alchemical mixture of critical and commercial success that English Settlement gave them.

Over the following years they continued to release material that despite garnering critical acclaim never found a significant audience in the way that English Settlement had.