As far as I know, The Texas Gentlemen are the first artists to offer up a board game among the online merch table accompanying the release of their new album, Floor It!!! (three exclamation points) since the grueling period of quarantine began. The Americana ensemble know how bored we’ve gotten hovering around the one hundred day mark of self-isolation, and have dreamed up a full-fledged product to include with physical orders of their album of the same name (operators are standing by at 406-FLOORIT, notes their latest press release).
As far as the game’s soundtrack goes, Floor It!!! is shaping up to be a worthy successor to the band’s 2017 debut TX Jelly, with the latest single “Train to Avesta” blending acoustic guitar with heavy piano, and Nik Lee’s vocals recalling the alt-country flourishes of Jim James at times. As upbeat as the song is, though, there’s plenty of longing in its lyrics.
“I wrote ‘Train to Avesta’ about the regret of leaving a girl I had just met in Gotland (a Swedish island in the Baltic Sea) and having to take a train to another Swedish town (Avesta),” Lee explains. “As for the sounds, I was going for a vibe that could start as a waltz and be turned into 4/4 as it approached the chorus. Arriving at the chorus was like getting off the train and back to reality without her. Leaving the girl and the waltz in Gotland, so to speak.”
Floor It!!! drops July 17. You can pre-order it here.
