NYTT ALBUM. Texas säger "Hi" och placerar sig återigen på kartan

När de flesta band passerar en musikalisk milstolpe ska det enligt tradition firas med en turné. Texas, vars debutalbum fyllde 30 år förra året, hade större planer än så. Hellre än att bara framföra det gamla materialet, var det skotska bandet beredda att möta sina unga jag – de storögda ungdomarna som skapade ”Southside”, som sålde två miljoner exemplar, debuterade topp 3 - bandet som senare skapade det sexfaldigt platinabelönade ”White On Blonde”.

Sent 2018 grävde man djupt I Universals arkiv efter tidiga inspelningar, bevarade på kassett, DAT och som aldrig digitaliserats. I denna guldgruva hittades flera låtar från sessionerna för ”White On Blonde”, flera av dem totalt bortglömda av bandet.

LYSSNA HÄR

Låtarna var så pass bra att bandet ursprungligen planerade att släppa dem som ett ”förlorat album”. Men att lyssna på sina gamla jag hade en oväntad bieffekt. Helt oplanerat började Texas plötsligt skriva på sitt tionde album, ”Hi”, som en uppföljare till 2017 års ”Jump On Board”.

“You could say we were inspired by ourselves, if that didn’t make us sound insanely big-headed,” skrattar Sharleen Spiteri. “Being immersed in our old songs was so exciting. It was amazing to be taken back in time – my voice was so young! – but also to hear how much energy and passion we had. We were fighting for our careers at the time, trying to prove that Texas were still relevant.

“Our excitement at finding the old recordings collided with our excitement from back then and, suddenly, new songs started coming. It felt like us, now, collaborating with ourselves of 25 years ago.”

“Hi” må ha inspirerats av att se bakåt, men håller onekligen blicken stint fixerad på framtiden. Titelspåret och den sensationella första singeln bugar snyggt till det förflutna, samtidigt som det bevisar att Texas vägrar att stå till.

Ett helt nytt samarbete med Wu-Tang Clan ger oss en själfull Sharleen sida vid sida med mer högljudda RZA och Ghostface Killah, mot en filmisk bakgrund av frodiga beats och akustisk gitarr. Det var RZA som föreslog en återförening efter att ha träffat Texas i Glasgow förra året i samband med inspelningen av en kortfilm om deras banbrytande remix av ”Say what You Want”, en topp-3-hit som stal showen vid 1998 års Brit Awards när den framfördes tillsammans med Method Man.

“The idea was to get some footage to release alongside the lost recordings,” säger gitarristen Johnny McElhone. “But at the end of the interview RZA said we should collaborate again and by then, we’d already started writing. We had an idea for the song Hi, which is very Ennio Morricone, so perfect for them. We gave RZA a version with the vocal and a verse and another without either left Wu-Tang to do what they liked.”

På det färdiga resultatet byter Sharleen ord med de båda rapparna, och “Hi” blir “high”.

“My take is that RZA is rapping about being high on love,” säger Sharleen. “That’s where he is in his life right now – love is what makes him high. He knows the other high.

“In the film he mentions how much weed he was smoking when we first worked together. But what was fascinating to hear was how much thought they’d put in to “Say What You Want”.

“We assumed they’d used a rap they already had, but in fact, they wrote it from scratch. The lyrics about the high seas and bottles of rum are because we’re from Scotland. Wu-Tang thought the place was full of pirates. And he’s sort of right – we had smugglers. We’ve always kept in to touch with Wu Tang, but we’d never discussed any of that until last year.”

Fyra av låtarna på “Hi” kommer från “White On Blonde”-sessionerna, som t ex den blås-backade, Motown-soul-dränkta “Mr Haze”.

“The moment we heard Mr Haze we remembered how much we loved making it,” minns Johnny. “It should have been on “White On Blonde” but in fact it works better now. With all of those songs, we’ve reworked them, so they’re half us of old and half us now. Essentially, they’re duets with ourselves.”

Den fina pianoballaden “Unbelieveable” är ny, även om de orkestrerade delarna spelades in i en kyrka i Islington för flera år sedan.

“We don’t usually do ballads, but this one really stuck,” säger Sharleen. “It’s so intimate and personal, but also really grand. My voice sounds amazing on it. I’d love to take the credit, but it’s mostly down to a new mic we found.

“My engineer, Angelica [Björnsson, från skånska Kävlinge], said I had to try this mic that all the rappers use. My loud, fat voice tends to shut mics down, so we hired this £9000 Sony one that I became obsessed with, like the geek I am. We used it all over the album.”

Lugna och makliga “Dark Fire”, ett samarbete med Richard Hawley (från Pulp), är ytterligare något nytt för Texas. Den lågmälda sången är nästan talad, musiken återkallar känslan i en långsam dans under en skolbal på 60-talet.

“We worked with Richard on The Conversation and we’re still great mates – I see him all the time,” säger Sharleen. “I went to his gig at the Roundhouse a couple of years ago and afterwards he sent me a text in the middle of the night with an MP3 attached.

“It’s always the middle of the night with Richard. He’ll call you, wake you up, sometimes just to tell you a joke. He said he had written something for us and sent me 30 seconds of music. We wrote around it and the song went back and forth between us.

Det nästan lite hotfulla, brännande saxofon- och trumpetkompet i ”Just Wanna Be Liked” för Texas tillbaka till sina Morricone/Wim Wenders-älskande rötter.

“All of our albums have cinematic songs,” säger Sharleen. “Morricone in particular is still a huge influence. I love the lyrics – ‘Tell the truth to strangers’ and the stuff about a misspent youth.

“We’re referencing our past, but also writing from the position we’re in now. Being able to stand back from what you’ve achieved gives you a different perspective.

“We’ve been in this game so long, we’re not trying to compete with anyone else. Our aim has only ever to make great music. What’s been great about making this album is hearing how much music has always meant to us and knowing that’s never going to change.”

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