A few short years ago, Travis could do no wrong. Hit singles, multi-platinum selling albums, headline slots at Glastonbury: Fran Healy and his melancholy men had it all. But then along came Chris Martin’s flag-waving falsetto and Travis became the bittersweet bards of yesteryear.
The Boy With No Name, however, could well see the likeable Scots re-enter public consciousness. The lead single ‘Closer’ is as beautiful a slow-burning, mid-tempo love song as you’re likely to hear all year, with Healy’s soaring soprano taking centre stage in what is easily the best track they’re released since The Man Who elevated them to superstar status. Similarly, the gorgeously hummable ‘Battleships’, a song whose touch is as light and airy as a butterfly’s sneeze, or ‘My Eyes’, surely a forthcoming single, all chiming guitars, tap-along chorus and the kind of bridge that resounds in your brain for hours on end.
It’s not all about mid-paced melodrama, however. ‘Eyes Wide Open’ has a thumping bass-drum and a driving guitar riff, complete with caterwauling solo, while the upbeat ‘Selfish Jean’ comes complete with its ‘Lust For Life’-lite intro.
Towards the end however, the pace tends to drag, each song blending into the next, with the notable exception of the album closer ‘New Amsterdam’, an alternate take on the Big Apple, name-checking Jean Michel Basquiat, Dylan and DeNiro over a folky, whimsical paean to the city that never sleeps.
The Boy With No Name has a handful of absolute crackers, proving that Travis are still capable of penning a tune that wraps its tendrils around your ears and won’t let go until at least four minutes have passed. There’s also a smattering of filler. If the singles take off, however, Travis could just have another major hit on their hands.