The multi-platinum album from Scottish rock band Travis, The Invisible Band, is set to be reissued to celebrate its 20th Anniversary. The deluxe edition features the original album remastered by GRAMMY® Award-winning engineer Emily Lazar, all the original B-sides and a selection of completely unreleased demos, live sessions and alternate takes— to be released December 3rd on Craft Recordings. The band have today premiered ‘Swing’, a previously unheard early working version of their UK top 3 single ‘Sing’, listen now HERE.
A special limited-edition 20th Anniversary box set features the material across two CDs and two 180-gram heavyweight, ultra-clear vinyl LPs, cut at London’s Air Studios. The set includes an extensive book with unseen session photography, handwritten lyrics and essays from the band plus contributions from the original producer Nigel Godrich. A limited number of hand-numbered prints, signed by all four of the band, are available via the Travis official store pre-order here.
The Invisible Band will also be reissued on standard black vinyl, available for the first time on the format since its original release. A limited green vinyl pressing is available via independent record shops, as well as a 2-CD standard edition.
The band have today also announced The Invisible Band in Concert tour across North America and the United Kingdom in April/May 2022. This marks the first time the seminal album will be played in full, plus material from 2020’s 10 Songs and more from the group’s extensive catalogue of hits. Tickets for the UK dates are available now; existing tickets to UK dates remain valid. The US tour general on-sale is this Friday, 8th October here.
Frontman Fran Healy says, ‘The Invisible Band is 20!! I hadn’t listened to the whole album for a while. It’s a lovely piece of work from the big singles like “Sing” and “Flowers in the Window” to “Afterglow” and “Last Train”. It sounds great at 20! We’re also taking it on the road. We’re really looking forward to playing live again’.
Now certified 9x Platinum in the United Kingdom, The Man Who’s success may have seemed impossible to build upon, but when it came to crafting a follow-up, Travis’ natural composure became their greatest asset.
Andy Dunlop (guitar) recalls, ‘Making the first post-success album is never going to be easy. Suddenly pressures and expectations sit on the shoulders of an already creatively challenging process. But things shouldn’t be easy, and all the best things very rarely are’.
Returning to the studio with The Man Who’s co-producer Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Beck, Paul McCartney), Travis crafted a near-perfect 45-minute album praised by Q magazine for having some of ‘the best and most fully crafted’ songs of their career to date. Neil Primrose (drums) says ‘Recording at Ocean Way Studios, seeing what LA had to offer while staying at the Chateau Marmont have left strong memories’.
Lead single ‘Sing’ remains the band’s highest-charting single in the UK (No.3), while its follow-ups, ‘Side’ and ‘Flowers in the Window’, saw the band consolidate their indie-pop formula, helping The Invisible Band to match its predecessor’s No.1 position in the UK album chart, while taking Travis into the US Top 40 and Top 10 in Germany, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland, Sweden, France, Italy and Norway. Dougie Payne (bass) says, ‘from a distance of 20 years, lovely memories do come back’.
Travis have announced 2022 tour dates. Visit https://www.travisonline.com/ for the details:
UK Tour Dates 2022
May
Tues 10th – Cambridge, Corn Exchange
Weds 11th – Leeds, O2 Academy
Thurs 12th – Bath, Forum
Sat 14th – Stoke, Victoria Hall
Sun 15th – Birmingham, Symphony Hall
Tues 17th – Manchester, Albert Hall
Weds 18th – Bournemouth, O2 Academy
Fri 20th – London, Roundhouse
Sat 21st – Newcastle, O2 City Hall
Sun 22nd – Glasgow, Royal Concert Hall
US Tour Dates 2022
April
Tues 5th – Dallas, TX
Weds 6th – Austin, TX
Fri 8th – Anaheim, CA
Sat 9th – Los Angeles, CA
Sun 10th – San Francisco, CA
Tues 12th – Seattle, WA
Fri 15th – Minneapolis, MN
Sat 16th – Chicago, IL
Mon 18th – Toronto, Ont
Weds 20th – Boston, MA
Thurs 21st – NYC, NY
Fri 22nd – Philadelphia, PA
Sat 23rd – Washington, DC
Mon 25th – Cleveland, OH
Tues 26th – Indianapolis, IN
The Invisible Band 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition box set tracklist
LP1: Original Album (2021 Remaster)
Side A
Sing
Dear Diary
Side
Pipe Dreams
Flowers In the Window
The Cage
Side B
Safe
Follow The Light
Last Train
Afterglow
Indefinitely
The Humpty Dumpty Love Song
LP2: B-Sides (2021 Remaster)
Side A
Ring Out The Bell
Killer Queen
You Don’t Know What I’m Like
Beautiful
Driftwood (Live at Barrowlands)
All The Young Dudes (Live at Barrowlands)
Side B
You’re A Big Girl Now
Ancient Train
Here Comes The Sun (Live @ Top of the Pops Awards)
A Little Bit Of Soul
Central Station
No Cigar
CD1: Original Album (2021 Remaster)
Sing
Dear Diary
Side
Pipe Dreams
Flowers In the Window
The Cage
Safe
Follow The Light
Last Train
Afterglow
Indefinitely
The Humpty Dumpty Love Song
CD2: B-Sides & Bonus Tracks
Ring Out The Bell
Killer Queen
You Don’t Know What I’m Like
Beautiful
Driftwood (Live at Barrowlands)
All The Young Dudes (Live at Barrowlands)
You’re A Big Girl Now
Ancient Train
Here Comes The Sun (Live)
A Little Bit Of Soul
Central Station
No Cigar
Swing *
Flowers In The Window (Acoustic) *
Dear Diary (Demo) *
Last Train (Demo) *
Sing (Live on BBC) *
Flowers In The Window (Live on BBC) *
[*previously unreleased]