Like Drums and Wires, Black Sea was recorded at Virgin's Town House studio in London with producer Steve Lillywhite and engineer Hugh Padgham. It was originally titled Work Under Pressure in reference to XTC's grueling touring and recording regimen. After their manager complained, frontman Andy Partridge devised Black Sea as a reference to his emotional state while composing the album. From 1980 to 1981, the band supported the album on tour as the opening act for the Police. His fatigue worsened and XTC ceased touring indefinitely by 1982.
In August 1979, XTC released their third LP Drums and Wires, a more pop-oriented venture than the previous Go 2 (1978). It was met with positive reviews and a number 34 chart peak. Bassist Colin Moulding's dissatisfaction with XTC's "quirky" reputation inspired the group to take a more accessible approach with the album. In his own words: "Up until that point, we were viewed as a poor man’s Talking Heads or something ... when we came out with Drums and Wires it was like a different band, really."
Between late 1979 and early 1980, the members spent a significant amount of time on tour, making stops in Japan, Britain, mainland Europe and the United States, while also writing the songs that would form Black Sea. The group played gigs almost six nights a week for two months, an arrangement that Partridge said turned him into a "vegetable" and made him believe he "cracked up in a minor sort of way." During one of their performances, he suffered a brief memory lapse, forgetting XTC's songs as well as his own identity.
Partridge described the production as taking "Drums and Wires to the Nth degree ... The drums got boomier and bigger and more gated and more aggressive, and the guitars got slashier, with more punch to them." Gregory attributed the band's tighter sound to their 18 months touring Drums and Wires, which strengthened "our performance muscles." Moulding added that, in that time, Gregory's 1960s influences was starting to revitalize the band's interest in the music of that era. Gregory said the band had simplified into a "beat" group, with songs less elaborate than the ones recorded for Drums and Wires.
Black Sea was recorded in six weeks, longer than Drums and Wires, during which time the band resided on an upper floor of the studio. Moulding said it was a "Real luxury—bare box rooms with a bed and carpet." Gregory did not enjoy the recording experience due to his disappointment in himself as a non-contributing songwriter, his diabetes, and his uncomfortable working relationship with Partridge. As Gregory explained, "He's not a very giving musician when it's his song you're recording. ... I was incredibly frustrated during the sessions and then it was just tour, tour, tour." Commenting on how their playing styles intersected, Partridge said: "Dave and I worked to not tread on each other's toes musically, so we played in the holes left by the other." Gregory played "the more complicated parts" due to Partridge's consideration for live performances: "I was a stickler for it sounding as close to the record as we could get it. So, if I had to do the vocals, I usually gave myself a simpler part that I could play and sing with."
The album opened with "Respectable Street" was lyrically inspired by Partridge's observations of Bowood Road, a Swindon street that was diagonally opposite to where he lived at the time, as well as a next-door neighbour nicknamed "Mrs. Washing". Once the song was finished, he realised that there "couldn't be any other nation I'm talking about" besides England, and appended an old-fashioned Noël Coward-style intro that was then repurposed for the bridge section. "Generals and Majors" was written by Moulding as a satirical take on the phrase "oh, what a lovely war". The song was Moulding's attempt at a composition with one chord, inspired by the Beatles' "Doctor Robert" and "Paperback Writer", while the guitar riff was supplied by Partridge. Chambers played a disco drumbeat. "Living Through Another Cuba", a live favourite, is about Partridge's fears of the Cold War and Britain’s downplayed role in it. "It was total nuclear-war paranoia. That, and the uselessness of England – this completely and utterly useless little country whose significance in the world ended at the First World War."
"Towers of London" is a tribute to the workers who constructed Victorian era London. It is one of the few XTC songs that modulates key, which was unintentional, and one of the few XTC recordings that necessitated an edit on Chambers' drum performance. The music stemmed from Partridge "subconsciously" trying to rewrite the Beatles' "Rain", desiring "clangorous guitars crashing together, and sort of droning." At the beginning of the recording, Lillywhite is heard saying "take-a-hundred-and-three", followed by the same phrase echoed by Chambers and Partridge, who are imitating the voice of Ian Reid. This was one of the band's running jokes during sessions. "Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)" is a lyrical throwback to the group's earlier songs when they were known as the Helium Kidz. It was considered "the most irrelevant song on the album" by Partridge. "Travels in Nihilon", the album's closing track, is about Partridge's feelings of disillusionment with the music industry. The song (and album) ends with the sound of a shower running, meant to mimic the sound of rain falling, but someone told Partridge they thought it instead sounded like someone urinating, which he liked even more as he thought it fit with the song's lyrical theme of the Pop industry, the fashion industry, the religion industry -- pissing on you, in contempt, for being such a dolt and buying into all their shit!.
From 1980 to 1981, XTC toured Australia, New Zealand and the US as the opening act for the Police. They did two tours with the group, one in the summer and another in the autumn. In Athens, Georgia, XTC were supported by local band R.E.M., who covered XTC songs in their set. The night after John Lennon was killed, XTC played a gig at Liverpool, where they performed both "Towers of London" and "Rain" in tribute to the Beatles.
At this point, XTC were playing in arena stadiums while Partridge, encumbered by XTC's touring regimen, began declining further in his mental state. While in upstate New York in December 1980; Partridge exited the tour van to relieve himself: "I jumped out of the van and wandered into this field ... and I thought, 'Who am I? Who the hell am I, and what am I doing in this field?' And just got back in the van, not knowing who I was." He requested to cease touring, but was opposed by Virgin, his bandmates and the band's management. On 2 June 1981, XTC performed their last ever British date, in Cardiff. In 1982, "Respectable Street" was the only song they performed at a televised gig simulcast in Paris, which became one of the last live performances of their career. Partridge experienced a panic attack mid-performance and walked off the stage.
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