Travis frontman Fran Healy doesn’t expect the band’s new album to top the charts.
The ‘Flowers in the Window’ hitmakers are releasing their latest record ‘L.A . Times’ on Friday (12.07.24) and Fran knows that it is unlikely to eclipse Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ in the race for top spot.
Fran said on stage at London’s O2 Arena recently: “Usually when bands are 50 years old, albums get s***.
“This is not a s*** record. It is a really, really great record, but there is absolutely no chance we are going to knock Taylor Swift off No1, is there? Not unless you all help us.”
Fran jokingly added: “Can you buy it? Does anyone actually buy records anymore?”
‘L.A. Times’ marks the first new album for the Scottish group since ’10 Songs’ in 2020 and Fran revealed that it is the band’s most personal album since they released their breakthrough record ‘The Man Who’ back in 1999.
The 50-year-old musician said: “‘L.A . Times’ is our most personal album since ‘The Man Who’. There was a lot of big stuff to write about back then, the tectonic plates had shifted in my life. I was 22 when I was writing those songs. They were my therapy. Over 20 years later and the plates have shifted again. There’s a lot to talk about.”
The album’s lead single ‘Gaslight’ was released in March and Fran explained that it addresses how people’s lives are controlled by others.
He said: “I read a few weeks ago that gaslighting was the most web searched word in the world. We are living in a time where our realities are being warped by bosses, leaders, friends, teachers and politicians. It really is everywhere.
“Gaslighters want to control you. They tell you things which undermine your confidence in yourself and make you question reality and it makes you feel like you’re going crazy.”