Travis are set to appear on tonight’s edition of The Late Late Show with James Corden on American network CBS. The Scots will perform A Ghost, taken from their latest album 10 Songs.
Don’t forget to tune in to The @latelateshow with @JKCorden tonight to see our performance of ‘A Ghost’ from 12.30am (PST) on CBS! pic.twitter.com/Fsl5C0KKUr
— Travis (@TravisBand) November 2, 2020
A Ghost, the second of seven singles released from 10 Songs to date, is an up-tempo folksy number which dwells on themes of ageing, love, regret and acceptance. In the chorus lead singer Fran Healy’s words speak to both middle-aged anxiety and undimmed resolve: “Oh but I saw a ghost/In the mirror coming near/ A little close for comfort tonight/ He said ‘It’s easier to be alive/ Than hide under your pillow/ While your life is passing you by’/ So live your life/ Don’t waste your time.”
The singles released from the album so far include gentler acoustic numbers (Kissing In The Wind, All Fall Down and The Only Thing, a sweet duet with Bangles singer-songwriter Susanna Hoffs); the string-tinged pop-rock ballad Nina’s Song; the driving, Arcade Fire-esque Waving At The Window; and the electric guitar-laden Valentine, which was accompanied by a video which plays out like a darker (and trippier) version of the iconic promo for the group’s smash hit Turn.
10 Songs, which reached number 5 in the UK albums chart in October, is the eighth Travis LP to scale the British top 10 over the band’s thirty years in the business. The last Travis album to reach the Top 40 on the other side of the Atlantic was the 2001 classic The Invisible Man, the follow-up to their generation-defining 1999 masterpiece The Man Who.
The band’s appearance on one of America’s biggest chat shows on the eve of a hugely contentious election feels opportune; with affable frontman Fran Healy having spoken at length about how one of the new album’s main themes (‘to be kind‘) is the antithesis of a certain presidential candidate’s approach. Healy, who now lives in Los Angeles, told Vulture that he is hopeful the upcoming election will lead to a change of course for his adopted homeland.
He said “(Trump)’s appealing to people who have been neglected by fucking government after government after government who doesn’t even acknowledge their existence…A lot of people have been ignored for generations, and suddenly this guy comes along and says, ‘I see you.’ He’s not giving them love, though. He can’t. He’s not capable of that… I think this election is going to be America’s IQ test. I think you’re going to get flying colors. You’re going to pass it because people have woken up…”
The Glaswegian band are due to take 10 Songs on tour in the UK next May, but Healy admits that the situation is still up in the air. He told Scotland’s Sunday Post paper “I asked our managers if they were joking when they talked about booking a tour, but they said we had to just batter on with it. Hopefully, by then, things will be better, but who knows. If not, we go to Plan B, although I don’t know if there is a Plan B. I think everyone is on Plan L or M by now. It’s a funny old time. It’s made everybody stop taking things for granted as much.“
