Travis’ sixth studio album, Ode to J. Smith, is perhaps the band’s most ambitious effort yet. The album marks a return to the rockier roots of the group’s debut, Good Feeling, and the effort pays off – most of the time.
J. Smith abandons much of the swooning, swinging acoustic anthems fans have come to love for energetic and gritty rock songs. Amid this change, Travis recaptures the youthful energy of its earlier albums while still retaining the honest and beautiful songwriting of the band’s most recent works.
Much of this combination can be seen in the album’s first single, “Something Anything.” It’s a simple and catchy tune with honest lyrics, but the background rocks with heavy-sounding electric guitars. While lead singer Fran Healy sings the straightforward lines, “Something anything just to keep believing/ Just to keep me breathing for a moment longer,” whining guitars are layered with brilliant backup vocals.
It’s a more involved sound than Travis would normally produce, and it shows in the disc’s most exemplary songs. Lead guitarist Andy Dunlop is never short of guitar riffs, and Neil Primrose’s drums drive the intensity at the right moments. Also, J. Smith includes the most detailed vocal layering Travis has ever crafted.
Most times the efforts are very rewarding, like the jagged piano solo in leading track “Chinese Blues” or the rolling drums of “Get Up.” Other effects feel like a stretch, such as the impromptu a cappella of (almost) title track “J. Smith,” which takes away some of the vitality of an otherwise brilliant song.
But on the whole, Travis’ experimental sounds pay off. Healy seems to find the edge in his voice in the thrilling and energetic masterpiece “Long Way Down.” Toward the end of the short track, the band is not afraid to let the rhythm break down into a funky outro. It sounds playful and natural and reveals a band not afraid to let a song take an unconventional course.
Even though it’s hit and miss for Travis’ latest effort, the group’s playfulness gives J. Smith its drive and definition. But while ambitious and fresh-sounding tunes “Long Way Down,” “Chinese Blues” and “Last Words” conjure a coherent sound for J. Smith, some of the more timid tracks hinder the album’s momentum.
For example, in the slow, swinging “Friends,” Healy sings, “Friends/ Will never desert you/ Or turn against/ Friends/ Won’t love you and leave you/ To mend the fence.” The song’s softer and more restrained lyrics and sounds feel very out of place and take away from the album’s vigor.
The momentum drops off completely at the very end with the generic-sounding anthem “Before You Were Young” – a song that would sound more appropriate on a Coldplay album than it does on J. Smith.
And while “Before You Were Young” and “Friends” don’t fit with the rockier sounds of J. Smith, other songs seem to be there only because they do fit. For example, “Broken Mirror” obviously fits and can find its place in the album, but it really is not a good enough song to contribute to the effect – it just takes up space.
But as a whole, J. Smith has enough kick to produce an exhilarating and fresh sound – a sound Travis has desperately needed. The successes of the album far outshine its setbacks and if the band’s courage had persisted for the full length, Ode to J. Smith would be by far Travis’ best album yet.
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RATING: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars
