There's something interesting here, I think - without getting too philosophical - about the meaning of life. It's all about parallels I guess, but just something that occurred to me. Around the time of Black Sea/English Settlement it feels like AP takes a conscious decision that this is going to be a studio project. No more tours, no more crappy riders, no more motel blues, no more stage fright. And while the show goes on, several people leave, not, I imagine, because they loved Ginster sausage rolls or economy short-haul flights, but because otherwise, what's the point? Yes, the Beatles wouldn't have made the White Album if they had been stuck in Des Moines Airport, but playing live is fun, and engaging, and an ongoing pat on the back for all concerned, so I can see the appeal.

So where is it all going? What is the point in XTC band if it's just dudes noodling in the studio? How do you gauge whether anyone is actually getting anything out of it besides the capricious teeth of the charts? Maybe that's not the point.

I am a great believer in the whole ars gratia artis white lie that creativity is its own reward. It's why I write things like this, why I record music, all the rest - not out of any great expectation of being a Big Star (as nice as that would be), but rather because it's fulfilling in its own right. It's a curious one though, because I have to question - if it was solely for my own benefit, whether the reward would be the same. Or is there a frisson there of not knowing when opportunity will knock? In other words, am I really truly happy doing all this to an audience of zero, or is the expectation that someone, somewhere will find it interesting? I find it especially intriguing to contemplate this, as having decided fairly early on that kids were lovely as long as they went home at the end of each day, I have no-one to pass this on to who would even begrudgingly read it with the lure of some extra pocket money or whatever.

In Cixin Liu's mind-bending Sci-Fi/philosophy crossover sequel Death's End, the human race is threatened by attack from unknown alien forces who possess technology far more advanced than our own. One proposed defence against this is to slow the speed of light down within the solar system such that any weapon launched from outside would be ineffective. It would also mean that humanity was trapped forever within the orbit of the sun, a big space, yes, but not a galaxy, not the universe, not Star Wars. And that's ultimately the hurdle. Leaving the earth for another planet billions of miles away is an illogical and impossible dream, but hey - you never know, right? If that option is closed forever, permanently, what does that do to the psyche? Make us more determined to do everything we possibly can to improve our own circumstances? Or make us give up?

And so back to XTC. Now marooned in the studio, no need to think about encores, back catalogue tracks to play, choosing support bands. They seem to have focussed on what they wanted to do, rather than regretting the paths which were closed to them. And that road ultimately leads to Skylarking.