The band Travis has just made their fourth album. If you liked Travis before, then be prepared for a bit of a change. The first time I went through this LP, I found that I didn’t care much for it.

Some of it may be reflective of the fact that the tone of this album is different from the usual tone they set in their first three albums.

One reason for the change is how all the songs were constructed. For example, this album has a very strong political undercurrent, and also it is more of a rocker then all the other Travis albums.

Not one for subtlety, they have songs like, “Peace the F*** Out” which is an open message to British Prime Minister Tony Blair. It includes lyrics like,

“You have a voice, don’t lose it / you have a choice, so choose it / you have a brain, use it.”

These songs are all very personal songs, for example track two, “The Beautiful Occupation.” One sees lyrics like:

“The beautiful occupation / you don’t need an invitation / to drop in upon a nation” it’s hard not to understand how Healey felt.

It was actually during this song the second time around that I fell for the album. I’ve been blathering on about lyrical this and that, but, musically I think it’s all tops.

It’s a dash of Oasis, Radiohead, and Jimmy Eat World all stirred together into something unique.

Travis’ clever musical compositions make the entire package that much better. The word painting and little touches like violin plucks to accentuate the lyrical delivery in the closing track of the album is one example of that.

Another example is the ambient audio track of wind and rain subtly placed in the background of the hidden track.

All in all this is a great album for fans of pop, Scottish people, or cats getting their own vocal tracks.