Travis - 12 Memories

I fell in love with Travis around about my second listen to The Invisible Band. Every song was so catchy and melodic and happy and fun and everything about that album scratched me right where I itched. Sitting at my computer singing horrendously along “Flowers in the window… such a lovely day… and I’m glad you feel the saaammmeeee…”. Good times and a great album. So I was a little unsure what to think when I popped in their latest effort and found a much mellower and more thought provoking album. It took me a while but I think my ears finally digested it… 12 Memories tale is told in its packaging. The album has not much color or excitement to grab you, and you really have to read to get anything out of it. The liner notes are black and white and the lyrics are in small font bunched efficiently together, but upon further reading you find the contents to be worth the read and a bit deeper than you might have initially though. The songs are neither catchy nor epic, but straight forward and forgettable on first listen, but upon revisiting slowly open up to reveal much more. For the longest while I thought of this album as quite a disappointment. It was rather bland in comparison to its catchy predecessor and it just didn’t do anything for me. I suspect it might be that way for a lot of people. But the beauty of music is that while not a single note on the album has changed since that first listen, my opinion and appreciation for it has. You won’t find one riff on this album to make you play air guitar. You won’t find one melody getting stuck in your head. You won’t find any choruses to sing along to either. But what you will find is twelve neatly and beautifully crafted songs that speak in a whisper rather than a scream. Front man Fran Healy tackles subjects like war (“Beautiful Occupation”) and domestic abuse (“Re-Offender”) on his most thought provoking lyrics to date. The music is soothing, mellow, and addictive, even if you can’t figure out why. It may be the hardest Travis release to get your mind around and to like, but once you do you will be happy you took the time to give it a second listen. Overall good work from the boys across the pond. This album won’t catch your ear or you heart, and won’t top many “best of” lists, but it will go down as another stellar release from one of Scotland’s better exports. [www.travisonline.com]