Wreckorder (Deluxe Version)

iTunes Review

Fran Healy is the lead singer of Travis, a band noted for the luminous beauty of its lead singer’s voice. For his first solo album, Healy plays most of the instruments himself, including drums. He invites Paul McCartney to play bass on the pleasantly orchestrated “As It Comes” and Neko Case contributes vocals to “Sing Me to Sleep.” Those combinations are noteworthy, but that isn’t to suggest Healy can’t handle it alone. This entire album is filled with the kind of trusty melodies that have made Travis one of the past decade’s finest bands. “Fly In the Ointment” is insistently catchy. “Buttercups” features an aching vocal that retells the story of a young Healy unable to afford buying flowers for his girlfriend. “In the Morning” turns to Healy’s darker side with a tension that is often buried by the joy of guitars. “Shadow Boxing,” with fiddle from Tom Hobden of Noah and the Whale and some elliptical piano notes, makes for an autumnal toss into memory lost and found. Healy, with and without band, is a formidable talent.