Texas: Careful What You Wish For

By RUSSELL BAILLIE

(Herald rating: * * * *)

On their first album since wrapping up their surprisingly enduring career with a greatest hits, Glaswegians Texas still sound — and look, judging by frontwoman Sharleen Spiteri's punk-chic makeover — like pop magpies.

In this case that means roping in the likes of MC Kardinal Offishall, dancehall rapper Dolamite and drum'n'bass producer Ceri Evans to rough'n'funk up their shiny sound. On the other hand. they've roped in former Robbie Williams co-writer Guy Chambers to sprinkle his big-ballad fairydust across I'll See it Through. Elsewhere, they're raiding the New Wave era with a definite Blondie echo to Broken and an Elvis Costello spikiness to opener Telephone X.

That might sound like a bit of a variety show, but it's still surprisingly cohesive. And it's a rare song on which Spiteri isn't able to inject a fair bit of personality, whether it's duetting with Mr Offishall on Carnival Girl, delivering typically breezy Texas pop-rock on Where Did You Sleep? and Under Your Skin, or prowling through the piano-driven soul stylings of the title track. A bit of everything, perhaps, but here Texas makes a virtue of its expansive borders.

Label: Mercury