Travis - 12 Memories
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Music CD Cover
Artist: TravisEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2003-10-14
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
- Quicksand
- The Beautiful Occupation
- Re-Offender
- Peace The F**k Out
- How Many Hearts
- Paperclips
- Somewhere Else
- Love Will Come Through
- Mid-life Krysis
- Happy To Hang Around
- Walking Down The Hill
- Some Sad Song
Free Music Notes for 12 Memories
Free Music Review: Take me away
Hit: 4 Stars
Bands who suddenly change their sound should be braced for a storm of controversy -- is their new sound good or terrible?
And Travis takes a sharp left turn in "12 Memories," a controversial evolution in the Brit-pop band's sound. It's more cynical, more sharply melancholy, more political, and experiments with their sound. While it may turn off people expecting a sunny listen, it makes up for its shortcomings with its beautiful writing and instrumentation.
"Take me away, take me away/You said that you were gonna stay/But you're always lying anyway," Fran Healy sings over a steady piano/guitar combo, sounding as cheerful as someone singing this anti-love song can. He talks casually about drinking, monotony, crazy lovers, and how "it's just the sound of one more rock star bleeding out..."
Things don't get much brighter with the soaring political pop-rocker "Beautiful Occupation," and the mournfully swirling "Reoffender." With that in hand, Travis expands into a series of musically striking, lyrically downbeat pop songs -- jagged little rockers, mournful piano pop, eerie ballads, dramatic Britpop, twinkly melodies, and a few lighter songs like "Somewhere Else," which are deliciously catchy but kinda confusing.
There's a distinct political edge to "12 Memories," despite its vaguely Beatles-esque feel to the album. Okay, it's not "All You Need is Love," but the darker, frustrated feelings in "12 Memories" are more in tune with the current times. Then, apparently having gotten their soapboxing out of their system, Travis focuses on the lonely, chilly ballads and pop-rockers.
Fran Healy's low, rough-edged voice is well-suited to the melancholy music, with its mellow swirling guitars, pianos and pretty Beatlesy harmony. And that music takes a newer, more experimental edge here, like the build-up of swirling sound in "Mid-Life Krysis" or the meandering, swelling, surreal lament and the tinkling soundscapes of the penultimate track. It adds to the moodiness, and gives the feeling that Travis is growing and changing.
The political themes may rub some listeners the wrong way, but they remain as explicit as they can be without naming names ("Half a million civilians gonna die today/They looked the wrong way"). Some songs become downright confusing ("You can't wake from this nightmare/And you invited everyone") and others are plaintive ("Hopelessly hoping our plan will wake up/Hoping it all will be fine").
"12 Memories" takes Travis to a more cynical, gloomier place, but the chilly, twilight beauty of the British pop-rock is undeniable. Not the best they have done, but certainly intriguing.
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