On August 13th, the first-ever vinyl reissue of UK Top Five album 12 Memories from Travis continues the reissue streak from the Scottish rock band. Cut at London’s Metropolis Studios, the pressing features all original packaging replication including photography by Anton Corbijn. Available for pre-order today, the album will be released on standard black vinyl, with a limited white pressing available exclusively at Travis’ official UK store. Meanwhile in the US, Newbury Comics will offer an exclusive Black Ice edition. None other than Sir Elton John raved that 12 Memories would “take you on a real journey… like The Beatles’ Revolver”. And, just like The Beatles in 1966, Travis were at a critical juncture when it came time to record their fourth album and the follow up to the multi-Platinum international breakthrough The Invisible Band.  |
Travis / Photo courtesy of the artist |
Coldplay had launched a career patterned on Travis’ The Man Who-era song writing, while frontman Fran Healy was secretly battling depression. With the Iraq War newly raging in the background, the group began to look outwards in their song writing, penning socially conscious singles like “Re-Offender,” which dealt with domestic abuse, and “The Beautiful Occupation,” which was inspired by the US invasion of Iraq. If “Love Will Come Through” was more like the Travis of old, it was filtered through a darkness that defined much of 12 Memories, with the album as a whole taking on tinges of electronica, and the band rocking with a harder edge than before.
Fran Healy comments “12 Memories was an album from a dark passage in our timeline. Neil was recovering from his near death swimming pool accident, the UK and US were about to go to war in Iraq, and I was feeling burnt out by the volume of work which the past two records had generated. This was a reaction to all this. It alienated many fair weather fans, and made many hardcore fans happy. It was also a big part of Neil’s physio. What resulted was an overall darker affair.” 12 Memories is the third vinyl reissue from Travis so far in 2021. It follows 2007’s The Boy With No Name (re-released May 28th), and the first-ever vinyl release for debut album, Good Feeling (April 2nd). To celebrate the reissues, the band are remastering their seminal promotional videos in HD—check them out here. Tracklist – 12 Memories: Side A 1. Quicksand 2. The Beautiful Occupation 3. Re-Offender 4. Peace The Fuck Out 5. How Many Hearts 6. Paperclips Side B 1. Somewhere Else 2. Love Will Come Through 3. Mid-Life Krysis 4. Happy To Hang Around 5. Walking Down The Hill 6. Some Sad Song About Travis: Formed in Glasgow in 1990, Travis (Fran Healy, vocals, guitar; Andy Dunlop, lead guitar; Dougie Payne, bass; Neil Primrose, drums) came of age during Britpop’s heyday, but always stood at a remove from that scene’s barely contained mania. When the Britpop hangover kicked in at the end of the ’90s, Travis’ gentle, uplifting songs were the perfect antidote for the chaos of the preceding years. From its title on down, Good Feeling set the mood: an upbeat album unafraid to wear its emotions on its sleeve. By the time Travis took to Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage in 1999, delivering a career-defining performance, they were poised to become household names, opening the door for a new generation of introspective songwriters to come through. Entering the new millennium as one of the biggest bands in the UK following the success of sophomore album, 1999’sThe Man Who (now certified 9x platinum, with over 2.7 million albums sold in the UK), Travis spent the remainder of the ’00s developing their sound without ever forgetting their core commitment to songwriting. The Invisible Band (2001) consolidated the group’s status as the grown-ups’ indie rock band of choice, while 2003’s 12 Memories revealed a newfound electronica influence. 2007’s The Boy With No Name was the band’s most eclectic album to date, and, in the years since, the group have only continued to build on their enduring appeal. 2008’s Ode to J Smith included the fan-favourite single ‘Something Anything’, while Where You Stand (2013) and Everything At Once (2016) returned Travis to the UK Top 5. Travis’ emotionally charged and deeply heartfelt ninth studio album, 10 Songs (2020), marked another new chapter in the band’s extraordinarily prolific and unflappable career. 10 Songs is yet another body of work that showcases the band as one of the UK’s finest songwriting exports. Recently, the band announced their return to the stage, with a slew of UK dates beginning in May 2022. About Craft Recordings: Craft Recordings is home to one of the largest and most essential collections of master recordings and compositions in the world. Its storied repertoire includes landmark releases from icons such as Joan Baez, John Coltrane, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Celia Cruz, Miles Davis, Isaac Hayes, John Lee Hooker, Little Richard, R.E.M., Joan Sebastian, and Traveling Wilburys. Plus, the catalog recordings of celebrated contemporary acts including A Day to Remember, Evanescence, Alison Krauss, Nine Inch Nails, Taking Back Sunday and Violent Femmes, to name just a few. Renowned imprints with catalogs issued under the Craft banner include Fania, Fantasy, Fearless, Musart, Nitro, Panart, Prestige, Riverside, Rounder, Specialty, Stax, Vanguard, Varèse Sarabande, Vee-Jay and Victory, among many others. Craft creates thoughtfully curated packages, with a meticulous devotion to quality and a commitment to preservation—ensuring that these recordings endure for new generations to discover. Craft is also home to the Billie Holiday and Tammy Wynette estates which preserve and protect their respective names, likeness and music through day-to-day legacy management of these cultural trailblazers. Craft Recordings is the catalog label team for Concord Recorded Music. For more info, visit CraftRecordings.com and follow on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music. |
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