Album Review: Texas Tea - Sad Summer Hits

The delectable duo of Kate Jacobson and Ben Dougherty – aka Texas Tea – have always been a class act, but as the years move on their songwriting presence grows exponentially to the point where their third longplayer, Sad Summer Hits, makes all other releases of its ilk flounder in the shade.

Opening with the gracefully plaintive twang of The Merry Blues, Jacobson's vocals rich and pining, the album then whisks us away with country soul stirrer Lily, one of the strongest, most rambunctious tracks the band have committed to tape. This is all a ruse though, as there are even shinier diamonds to be mined. The '60s-aping faux pop of Heart Says Yes (Head Says No) is all sweetness and light yet somehow avoids coming off saccharine, whilst Dougherty takes over for the attitude-laden I Don't Write No Sad Songs, making men mutter and women swoon. He's responsible for another gem in I Know That I Let You Down This Time, with Jacobson's vocals echoing from afar, and somehow makes an apology for a monumental screw-up sound both stirring and inimitably cool, especially as it explodes near the end, a release of electric emotion.

The album sounds massive, with the inclusion of a rhythm section and crystalline production from Magoo helping to heighten these exquisite tracks. There's the Texas Tea staple of spousal battles, both real and imagined, and at times it's laid bare more than ever before (I Love You Like I Love This Black Eye leaves little to the imagination). Not so much rolling with the punches as swinging them with practiced precision, Sad Summer Hits proves that Texas Tea is a veritable institution.