SHARLEEN Spiteri is having a lazy start to the day – which, she insists, is a very rare occurrence.

"I'm lying on my bed," she says with a stifled yawn. "I was up at 5.45am to drop my daughter off at school because she's going away on a school trip.

"Rock & roll!"

Nine albums and almost 30 years in, Sharleen and her band Texas are still hot property, even though these days she has to combine the lifestyle of an international recording artist with that of a mum to 14 year old Misty – with all the challenges that throws up.

"People say 'how do you do it?' she says. "But I can't pick and choose when I want to work, and I can't not work. I do it to pay the bills. I don't feel any pressure though."

It was 1989 when Texas entered the national consciousness with the Americana twang of their top 10 debut single I Don't Want a Lover, from top three album Southside.

This year they turned out their ninth, Jump on Board, which reached number six. They've clearly still got it.

In between, Sharleen has leapt between styles and images, staying fresh and picking up new generations of fans along the way – shifting 35 million records and racking up three number one albums.

"This is the best job in the world," she says. "And my catalogue's so vast, I could never get bored.

"My passion for song-writing has never been stronger than it is now. I'm more in love with it than ever.”

A native Glaswegian, Sharleen lives in London with her partner, and now fiance, the chef Bryn Williams – the Great British Menu star having popped the question earlier this year, after 10 years together.

Yet she admits to still being a Clydesider at heart. "It's who I am," she says. "I have lived in London for 25 years but I was born in Glasgow and grew up in Glasgow, so I am still very much a Glaswegian."

It is also where she has her studio – and where Jump On Board was written and self-produced.

The album, written by her and Texas co-founder and musical soul mate Johnny McElhone, is a pop gem. Lead single Let’s Work It Out was released with a video featuring footballing legend Thierry Henry.

Its chorus has Sharleen singing: "Life’s too short, let’s work it out.”

“Sometimes,” she says, “you just want your hands in the air, spinning around in circles, singing your head off. We’re a bit older, hopefully a little wiser and it’s just like, let’s sort things out, let’s not fight about things anymore."

The album bursts with Texas' influences – from Northern soul to disco and even McElhone’s first band, Altered Images.

It's their first since The Conversation in 2013 and it saw them working with Jack Townes and Angelica Bjornsson, from the band's inner circle.

"We were very conscious it wouldn't just be, 'hi, we're doing another Texas album',” says Sharleen. “We were aware of me singing in a different way. People know my voice, they know I can sing. But how would it be if I didn't just do me? And what happened was, with the band all having input, it was a very happy and fun record to make, we were all throwing ideas at each other.

"We didn’t want to go out and work with lots of different songwriters, this time we wanted it to just be us and some friends. We wanted this to feel like a record that was part of all of our collective soul, that felt free”.

As we talk she is getting ready for a tour to promote the new album, which will see her playing Oxford's New Theatre on Wednesday. The show will see her revisiting her back catalogue, to the delight of fans of the band's varied eras.

"People have a certain image of us and like different songs. You'll get people who want I Don't Want a Lover or Black Eyed Boy, Halo or Summer Son."

And that applies to her image too –in all its incarnations. "I have always been a bit androgynous," she says. "I'm a bit like Marmite. That's always the reputation I've had. I don't do glamour. It's not what I do. You are more likely to find me in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt with a guitar – that's how I am."

As she looks back on her career so far, what single moment stands out as special? "

"The truth is, there was no one single standout moment," she says after a pause. "There were great moments though, like hearing our record on the radio – and I still get unbelievably excited and go crazy when I hear one of our songs on the radio. I'm like a girl in a sweet shop when that happens."

And is it still as much fun as it was back in the 80s? "Hell yeah! If it wasn't I wouldn't be still making records."

"I'm 50 this year and I do have peace of mind. I spent some time in India after our last tour, and it gave me some clarity around my life, and I think that’s informed the lyrics on this record – maybe a heightened sense of tolerance, caring about people, awareness of others?

"I'm very sure of who I am. I'm very sure of what I want in my life. And who I want in my life. And I definitely know who I don't want in my life!”

She adds: “I'm in this because I wanna make music and I wanna write great songs, in a great band, who love what they do, and by doing that I hope we can bring some positivity and joy into people’s lives."

* Texas play the New Theatre Oxford on Monday. For tickets got to atgtickets.com