It’s perhaps strange to think of a band with a four-decade career spanning ten UK Top 10 albums and some of the most era-defining songs of a generation as having anything still left to prove, but when Texas strode onto Glastonbury’s legendary Pyramid Stage in summer 2023, it was with a fighting spirit in mind. The jostling crowd assembled before them had gotten wind that the secret band billed as The Churnups on next would in fact be Foo Fighters. Arctic Monkeys were due to headline. Rock duo Royal Blood were on in between. “Where do I fit in that?” questions firebrand frontwoman Sharleen Spiteri. “But then I’m looking at the audience and thinking: ‘You think you don’t know these songs, but you don’t realise how many songs you know.’ So we went out all guns blazing. You think we can’t play like how the boys can play? Well watch this trick because nothing's anything without the songs and we have the songs.” And so, for the following hour, Spiteri and her band gave a comprehensive masterclass in why you don’t mess with Texas. ‘I Don’t Want A Lover’. ‘Halo’. ‘Summer Son’. ‘Black Eyed Boy’. ‘Inner Smile’. ‘Say What You Want’. Hit after hit after hit. Rather than a warm-up act for the boys, Texas’ set became one of the weekend’s most undeniable victories. “Seeing the crowd was literally like watching the ‘Thriller’ video, they were coming from everywhere. It was absolutely heaving,” Spiteri grins. “There were a couple of points where I had to just stand for a moment and breathe, because it genuinely really felt emotional. The amount of love that came off the audience that day was insane.” With 2026 marking the 40th anniversary of the band’s formation, it’s with a whole new lease of life that Texas have found themselves entering their newest era. That Glastonbury set then snowballed into a UK arena tour (encouraged by, of all people, their friend Peter Kay), marking the biggest UK headline dates that Texas have ever played. “What’s startling about hearing Texas play a career-spanning set is realising quite how many awfully good songs Sharleen Spiteri and Johnny McElhone have written together,” declared The Guardian in a glowing review of their show at London’s O2. Far from a nostalgia act, it feels like Texas are being fully appreciated for what they’ve always been: a band with an innate knack for gigantic earworm melodies, and a defiant, inspirational, hilarious frontwoman who’s spent a career forcing the world to listen, even back when the world didn’t want to. “There's points where you really have to fight as a woman. If Texas had been a male-fronted band, we'd be national heroes,” Spiteri suggests. “But because it's a femalefronted band, we don't get that. I'm fine with that now. I might not have had people going, ‘Oh, you're wonderful, you're so cool’, but I've sold so many records that I don't give a flying fuck.” Now seems like the perfect time, then, to remind the world of the record that truly turned Texas into superstars: White On Blonde. Released in February 1997 into a musical landscape running on Britpop swagger and laddy energy, Texas’ landmark fourth LP was the absolute opposite: a record that embraced the band’s love of soul, trip-hop and more, and turned it into a catalogue of emotionally-resonant, radio-ready hit singles. Its subtly sexy cover art was shot by legendary photographer Juergen Teller; following its immediate, huge success (a Number One album chart placing upon its release, plus five Top 10 singles), the band followed it up with curveball moves including a Wu Tang Clan collaboration on ‘Say What You Want (All Day, Every Day)’ that earned them a further Top 10. Nothing about any of it was expected, but that was precisely what turned it into magic. “It didn't feel risky because no-one at our label gave a shit,” Spiteri recalls of the attitude towards the band in the UK ahead of White On Blonde. “We were in Glasgow, we made the album in my house and I did all the vocals in the coat cupboard. We had nothing to lose, and anyway, I didn’t want to fit in. If everybody's doing something, I'm always running in the opposite direction and that’s always been the attitude - whether it’s walking on stage at Glastonbury, or with White On Blonde. It's always been us saying: We will play our own tune. If you want to jump on, great. If you hate us, fine. But this is what we want to do.” The world, as it turned out, very much wanted to jump on board and now, 30 years later, they’ll have the chance to do so once more as Texas unveil a special anniversary reissue of White On Blonde, alongside plans for an accompanying UK tour. Amazingly for an album that’s sold more than four million physical copies worldwide, this will be the first opportunity for fans to purchase the album on vinyl. “It turns out there were only ever 150 albums pressed and they were never sold, they were only given out to press. We had to get one before and it cost us £1600 to buy our own record,” Spiteri laughs. In the time since, many of the album’s iconic hits have been re-upped in the public consciousness thanks to a whole new generation of fans. Ivor Novello-winning pop star CMAT has covered ‘Inner Smile’ on multiple occasions, while electronic titan Fred Again frequently closes his live sets with the track: proof of the timeless quality of Texas’ songwriting and the enduring appeal of the band. Alongside the album’s classic hits, the 30th anniversary edition will also feature a brand new track, ‘Another Way To Cry’. Proudly influenced by their love of Northern Soul, and filled with brass and strings, it finds Texas broaching new territory yet again. “It's a really good test for a new song if you play it up against the big hits; it’ll either sit up to them, or it fucking dies,” Spiteri says. “‘Another Way To Cry’, you could put it in the setlist tomorrow with all the hits and it'll [stand its ground]. It sounds like us, but now - and that's what it is.” If all this momentum and excitement feels like the start of something new, then fans might not have long to wait until Texas reveal their next moves. “It’s to be continued,” Spiteri winks. “Don’t worry, we won’t make you hold your breath too long…” Now, having reminded their public just how good the band can be, it looks as though the next chapters of Texas’ incredible career could be their finest yet. “In the beginning I thought, if I can write one song that will be around longer than me, then I'm happy,” says Spiteri. “Now we've written quite a few, but it's not over yet. There's another wee bit of the story to tell, and that’s exciting.”