‘Oranges & Lemons’ Brightens XTC Leader Partridge

Andy Partridge, the leader of the English band XTC, pulled a bottle of herbal anti-stress pills out of his pocket.

Uh-oh.

Partridge’s stage fright has kept the band from performing since 1982. Would the problem extend into interviews too? After all, when Partridge--who leads a cocooned existence at home in Swindon, England--did rounds of interviews for the band’s 1987 album “Skylarking,” he seemed up-tight.

On his mind at the time were his contentious relationship with Todd Rundgren, who produced the album, and the Bible Belt reactions to his controversial atheistic anthem “Dear God.”

But as Partridge settled on a sofa in an office at the David Geffen Co. complex in Hollywood, the singer-songwriter-guitarist was anything but gun-shy . . . or any kind of shy.

That should come as no surprise to anyone who has heard XTC’s latest album, “Oranges & Lemons,” a 15-track package full of bright, clever and often Beatlesque songs that are as colorful as the title and the Peter Max-like cover art. The album falls somewhere between the pastoral pastels of “Skylarking” and the tributes to psychedelia that XTC has done under the name of the Dukes of Stratoshpear.

And a good portion of the double-album’s 15 songs elaborate on what Partridge--the principal writer in a trio that also includes bassist-songwriter Colin Moulding and guitarist Dave Gregory--stated in “Dear God.”

Likewise, in the interview, rather than soften or back off from what he started two years ago, Partridge barged straight ahead. He has no regrets that “Dear God” stirred up some controversy, in the process drawing the most widespread attention of anything the band had released in its 10-year history.

Rather, he seemed sorry that the song wasn’t more disturbing to the Christian faithful.

“I’d like to go back to the religious theme full-blown sometime in the future when people have forgotten the hoo-ha of ‘Dear God’--or the attempt of ‘Dear God,’ ” the 35-year-old Partridge said. “It’s such an enormous thing, it’s impossible to do in a 3 1/2-minute song.”

New songs like “Merely a Man” (in which Partridge places the Wizard of Oz on a par with Jesus and Buddha) delineate Partridge’s belief that religion is a “man-made subject.” Partridge seems to relish the fact that while many in the pop world are earnestly seeking the meaning of life, he is intent on saying that there is no great meaning in life.

“Christians are like filmgoers,” he said. “They want the fantastic. They’re like people who go to magic shows. Human beings want to believe in God, flying saucers, ghosts or the “I Ching.” They want Buddha, they want splatter movies, they want anything that they can believe in that’s going to be their magic. They wouldn’t be humans if they didn’t have a burning desire for magic. . . .

“What’s my magic? I think it’s kind of unraveling all this stuff to myself. My magic is getting rid of the magic and getting through the magic to embrace the nothing, other than have fun before you die, because you don’t get a chance when you do die.”

Partridge added that there is another kind of magic in his life: parenthood. He and his wife Marianne have a 3-year-old girl and a 1 1/2-year-old boy. That inspiration is as prominent on the album as his feelings about religion.

“I get into it in a big way,” he said of being a father. “Even if I’m not so active, I’m a good mountain for them to climb on, a very interesting angular mountain. They can stand on my face, one of those dads.”

Most important, he said, parenthood has helped him put his career in perspective.

“It’s humbled me about this music thing. When you make kids, making music or making anything else goes way down the ladder. . . . I’ve Frankensteined some life up. After that, writing more songs is sort of a jolly little hobby. It’s taken the edge off it incredibly.”

LIVE ACTION: Tickets go on sale Sunday for the Willie Nelson/Emmylou Harris bill at Universal Amphitheatre May 19-21. . . . Nelson will also be at the Pacific Amphitheatre on April 23 with Merle Haggard, the Desert Rose Band and Mason Dixon. . . . The Celebrity Theatre’s Ice-T/Easy E/NWA bill has been rescheduled to March 23-24. . . . The John Anson Ford Theatre kicks off its season with the Untouchables on March 31. Also due: Jerry Lee Lewis on April 2, Killing Joke on April 14 and Jane’s Addiction on April 20.

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