TEXAS AND SPOONER OLDHAM THE MUSCLE SHOALS SESSIONS ★★★★★
RELEASED: March 29 PIAS FORMATS: CD, 1LP Green Vinyl
Following up their latest best-of collection, Texas reimagine 12 of their classic tracks in an all-new collaboration with US musician Spooner Oldham.
Recorded at the renowned ‘Fame Recording Studio’ in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, during the summer of 2022, the album sees cuts from the band’s repertoire stripped back to their bare bones, guided by the soulful voice of Sharleen Spiteri, accompanied by Oldham’s piano lines.
On the experience, which was “like being a little kid in a sweet shop”, the vocalist remarks: “The fact that Northern Soul music has been such a massive influence for Texas made the fit with Spooner just right.
“To reimagine the classics and break them down so you hear the clarity in the lyrics - it may give you a different take and a different feeling on these songs.”
That’s clear from the opening notes of Halo - the euphoric second single from their fourth studio album, ‘White On Blonde’ (1997) - which is carried by Spiteri’s raw, nuanced vocals, with the absence of the original radio-friendly production bringing the lyrics to the fore.
Along with the ‘Jump On Board’
(2017) track Let’s Work It Out, it’s one of the more dramatically re-worked tracks on the collection which, although overhauling the instrumentation, largely sticks to the format of the originals, with the refrain of Summer Son and call-andresponse on The Conversation still in tact.
That’s not to take away from the fact that the material on offer is quite simply stunning; Spiteri’s vocal performance, without the bells and whistles of the band’s regular releases, places her among the finest of her generation, with the songs also re emerging in a new light that showcases the enduring quality of Texas’ material over the past 35 years.
The additional cover versions are a neat if superfluous touch (we’d have happily taken a couple more reworked hits), and while ‘The Muscle Shoals Sessions’ isn’t a project we’ll be revisiting too often it more than earns its place in Texas’ repertoire as a bonus victory lap in their career-spanning celebrations.