The Invisible Band

by

Travis

Edit

I really enjoyed both of the last two albums from Travis ("Good Feeling" and "The Man Who"), so this has been one for my list of most anticipated releases of 2001...

... and it really delivers! Building firmly on the musical foundations of "The Man Who", "The Invisible Band" contains another set of beautiful melodies, soaring vocals and leisurely tunes effortlessly roll out. Kicking off with the excellent first single "Sing" (the video for which is one of my all-time favourites), the album is stuffed with hummable, relaxing tracks. They may have a hard time deciding which ones to release as singles.

This is not just "The Man Who, Part II"! While some tracks are definitely in a similar vein, the album has some slightly more urgent and upbeat tunes ("Flowers in the Window", for instance), and some tracks - including "Sing" - even make amazing use of the banjo!

If there's one thing that does surprise, it's that the earlier UK single "Coming Around" wasn't sneaked onto the track listing. It's a real shame. On the other hand, the tracks here stand perfectly well as a collection without it.

If Travis' brand of guitar-driven music appeals to you as much as it does to me, you need to own "The Invisible Band"!

This is a good album with some of the catchiest singles I've heard in a long time: "Sing" is just tops, I couldn't get that out of my head for a month after I heard for the first time. "Side" is top-notch too. "Dear Diary" is probably the most obvious reason why they get Radiohead comparisons. It has a sparse arrangement, floaty noises in the background, and a Thom Yorke-espque lullaby style singing.

"Pipe Dreams" is a nice little pop tune, just some simple acoustic guitar strumming with very basic instrumentation...nice tune though. "Flowers in the Window" sounds like a Beatles song.

All in all, this is a good album, its just not an outstading album. I much prefered their previous record.