Thirty Years In, Texas Is Just As Big As Ever

The Scottish band Texas could be Britpop's greatest survivors. Nearly 30 years after their first hit, I Don't Want A Lover, they're touring Australia behind a sleek ninth album, Jump On Board.

The Glaswegian Sharleen Spiteri, Texas' lead vocalist (and guitarist), has lost none of her infamous rock chick mettle, dropping "fuck" liberally during an early morning phone call from the road. "We've just played the third night in Glasgow," she reveals. "So, if I sound a little bit husky and gruff, that's because I haven't had much sleep!"

Launching in the mid-'80s, Texas' core has always been Spiteri, a one-time teen hairdresser, and bassist Johnny McElhone, previously a co-founder of the cult Altered Images. They enjoyed immediate success with 1989's debut, Southside, on the back of the bluesy I Don't Want A Lover. However, Texas didn't become chart fixtures until album four, White On Blonde, in 1997. They even visited Oz to promote it.

Musically open, Texas caused a sensation when, following "an absolute fluke meeting" with members of those mythic hip hoppers the Wu-Tang Clan in New York, they collaborated on a remix of the surprisingly soulful, Martika-interpolating Say What You Want - extraordinary since RZA was then railing against "R&Bullshit". "We spent a couple of days in NY in the studio with all of the Wu-Tang and [their affiliates] Sunz Of Man and everything," Spiteri recalls. In fact, the Scots "intrigued" the Wu. "There's a lot to be said for being a Glaswegian!"

Texas have consistently defied expectations. The rockers cut In Demand, a single from The Greatest Hits, with TLC's old producer Dallas Austin (the cherished actor Alan Rickman appeared in its poetic video). "We got in a band because we didn't fit in and because we didn't want to have rules in our life," Spiteri stresses.

In 2008 the now London-based Spiteri aired a critically acclaimed solo album, Melody, with the same Northern soul feels as Amy Winehouse and Duffy. The material came out of Texas' writing sessions - and the demise of the singer's relationship with publishing figure Ashley Heath. "You write very much about emotionally where you are and what headspace you're in at that point. The record that kept coming out was not a Texas record - because emotionally it was subject matter that I guess I had to get out of my system. It was a very feminine, personal record. It wasn't about guitars and it wasn't about a band. It was about a very personal moment in my life that kind of almost had to be put out there to be able to make the next Texas record."

This year Texas returned to the UK Top 10 with the independently issued Jump On Board - Spiteri proclaiming it as "an upfront, modern-sounding record" in the press release. The single, Let's Work It Out, is a Moloko-ish bop. "There's elements of disco within this record, and we've never really delved into that part, but it's music that I grew up with," Spiteri notes, perhaps forgetting her noughties deep house jam with DJ Roger Sanchez, Nothing 2 Prove. Above all, Texas don't consider themselves a heritage act. "The 'heritage act' - saying that makes me feel sick!" Spiteri quips. Still, she promises that December's Antipodean shows will be career-spanning, rather than centred on Jump On Board. "It's not about us having an indulgent moment of, 'Look, we must play this record and you must listen.'"

The biggest mystery is why, Wu props aside, Texas haven't cracked the (admittedly arbitrary) American market. "People probably think we're a country band - they can't get past the name sometimes," Spiteri posits. (The 'Texas' is derived from Wim Wenders' movie Paris, Texas.) Nevertheless, Texas' influence transcends even music. Reputedly, Spiteri inspired her mate Rickman's wig-styling as Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter franchise. "It was actually Alan that said it," she confirms. "It was always a joke. When we'd made the In Demand video, when we danced the tango together in that video, Alan was just about to start filming the first Harry Potter. I'd gotten a little bobbed haircut at that point. I remember going to the first Harry Potter set to visit Alan and he came out as Snape and we were just laughing. He was like, 'I'm channelling you as your ugly sister at the moment.' We were just falling about laughing!"