Two years ago, Scottish pop rock band Texas celebrated their 25th anniversary. The group has had an impressive career with many ups and downs in terms of levels of success, as well as experimenting with many different styles of music. However, after their anniversary year, it’s actually been pretty quiet.
Now, Texas have released a new single and decided to return with an old sound. No, that doesn’t mean they went back to the blues, country pop sound they’d made their debut with on “I Don’t Want A Lover”. Nor did they return with a hip hop collaboration like ”Say What You Want (All Day Every Day)” that featured Wu Tang Clan. It’s an old sound, but it’s new to them (to as far as I know).
The song is called “Let’s Work It Out” and makes Texas one of a few acts (including Blondie with “Fun”) giving a nod to the old disco sound.
In contradiction to many other disco inspired pop songs, “Let’s Work It Out” is not a song that grabbed me right away. In fact, I think the track was well into the second repetition of its chorus when I finally got the hang of the song.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s in no way a difficult song to get into, but it just took me a while to find something in it that worked for me. Up on to that moment, I actually found it a little blend. Like it still needs some spicing up. Once I found it, I could see the catchiness of the chorus and I could get into that groove, so to speak.
Even though the song has grown on me, I’m still not sure if this is one of those big Texas songs that people will still remember years from now, but I am glad they are back. Lead singer Sharleen has got such a particular sound, which I think has made this band stand out many times, over the years. As particular as it is, it also seems to fit on many genres.
I, personally, have always missed the sound they started out with on their debut album, “Southside”, but they quickly adjusted the country inspired pop sound to pursue a rock sound, before ending up with a mix of pop and rock, which led back to fame. They have clearly always been following their own path. I have had no problem working that out.
