“IT only seems like yesterday,” laughs Sharleen Spiteri as she is reminded that 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the release of the first single and album by her band, soulful Scottish rockers Texas.
“I don’t think we’ll mark the occasion, though,” continues the Texas frontwoman. “You mark it by acknowledging it, which I’ve done in many of my interviews. The real achievement for me is this length of time...”
So while Texas, who amassed 15 platinum discs for such hit albums as White on Blonde and The Hush, are in hiatus, Sharleen is heading out on tour to support her debut solo album, Melody, calling in at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall on Sunday.
The album, released last year, finds the songwriter exploring more fully the Motown/60s/Dusty Springfield influences evident in such Texas hits as Black Eyed Boy and Say What You Want.
“Texas are my family and they’ll always be there but, after the last record, everybody decided they wanted to do different things. I had to think about what I wanted to do with my life, on top of which my life was going through some big personal changes,” she says, referring to the split with her long-term partner and father to her daughter. “So I just decided, that’s it. I need to make a solo record and step up to the challenge.
“When I told the boys in Texas, they just said, ‘Great. You go for it.’ So I did.”
Citing Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood, The Righteous Brothers, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash as other musical reference points, Sharleen describes the collection as “a very strong female record”. Although it’s easy to see the link between Melody and Texas, the new material does place her in a similar musical league to such relative newcomers as Amy Winehouse, Duffy and Adele.
“It’s been amazing to see the strength of female songwriters and singers around at the moment,” she says, fired rather than threatened by the competition. “Their style I love as well. I bought all their albums.”
At Symphony Hall expect to hear recent solo hits All The Times, Stop, I Don’t Love You Anymore and It Was You, the tale of a wronged woman, co-produced by former Suede guitarist and Duffy collaborator Bernard Butler.
“The lyrics are pretty hardcore: Something inside just died – it was YOU. That’s quite tough. I’m proud of the fact that it sounds very ‘now’ but it still sounds different because it’s coming from an older woman’s perspective,” Sharleen says, adding that there’ll also be a few Texas tracks in her setlist too.
“We’ve been rehearsing some Texas songs and they sound different, as it’s the band who played on my record.”
With Melody charting at number three and racking up sales of more than 100,000, where does Sharleen see her career going next? Can we expect another solo album soon? Or a newie from Texas?
“It’s more likely to be another solo record, but I’d need to be writing now and I’m on tour, and again I need to see where my mood takes me.
“This record is still really new, it’s still fresh, so let’s see.”
