Send "Fran Healy " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Absolutepunk |
 At this point, there's little to be written about Fran Healy that hasn't already been put to pen. Widely hailed by British critics as one of the country's contemporary masters, he's also revered here in the States. The reason for said praise is his decade-plus career with the venerable Scottish quartet Travis, which charted numerous singles, of those "Sing," "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?," and "Driftwood" to name a few. More important than his singles and the critics praise are the testimonies from other musicians, most notably Artists such as Coldplay, Noel Gallagher, The Doves and Gomez, who have all cited Healy as a major influence. His debut album Wreckorder offers much of the same but goes a bit deeper and farther, making for a most rewarding listen. The disc opens with the titanic "In the Morning," a shimmering piece of guitar pop that rises like a phoenix and never lets up. Its successor "Anything," is a timeless, acoustic hymnal which draws its energy from Healy's falsetto and his innate ability to harness age-old sentiments on love and lost without sounding trite. On the Neko Case duet "Sing Me To Sleep," the tandem coasts over amiable melodies and a syncopated drum loop making the pairing seem almost natural. Case probably deserves much of the credit for her contributions, but truth be told, any other duet partner probably could have stumbled, and yet with these two seasoned pros the exact opposite happens. Of the disc's first half, "Sing Me To Sleep," is easily one that's worth repeated listens. That's not to take anything away from the pensive "Fly in the Ointment," which bounces and struts with effortless whimsy, but after the power of "Sing Me to Sleep," it just doesn't do nearly as much as its predecessor....full text |
| Popmatters |
| It has been 13 years since Travis’ debut album, but frontman Fran Healy just now decided to strike out on his own. And since Healy’s singer/songwriter status has been the focal point of Travis this whole time, his debut solo album Wreckorder is bound to sound a little bit like his band. But the pleasant surprise is that some of it doesn’t. A very lean album with 10 songs clocking in under 35 minutes, Wreckorder dishes out musical comfort food and tame experimentation in equal measure. As a solo project, it won’t scare away any Travis fans who might want something just the slightest bit different. Emery Dobyns may have produced Travis’ last album Ode to J. Smith, but the approach he and Healy took to Wreckorder couldn’t be more different. Last time we heard from Travis, they recorded their new album in two weeks and it was probably the most rocking stuff they had made since their late ‘90s debut. Wreckorder has far more in common with The Man Who and The Invisible Band in terms of sound. Acoustic guitars and pianos rule the roost here, a majority of these instruments being played by Fran Healy himself. The overall result is a professionally recorded yet low-key album that could have been made in someone’s home studio—and I mean that as a compliment. The songs that sound like Travis outtakes, like the waltzing “Anything” or the Beach Boys bounce of “Fly in the Ointment”, aren’t the bright spots of Wreckorder. More interesting things happen when Healy lets out his inner Jonny Greenwood/Radiohead on the tense opener “In the Morning” and a very murky and mysterious fog of a tune found in “Shadow Boxing”. And without batting an eye, he closes the album with something far more playful than most of the songs that make it to Travis’ albums. “The cat jumped over the moonshine,” he sings on “Moonshine”, sounding like he wants all listeners to be in on the joke, whatever that might be....full text |
| Slantmagazine |
| For every successful band there's a marketable lead singer looking to put his or her name in lights with an offshoot solo project. And these endeavors essentially give rise to more docile and placid renderings of the artist's erstwhile sounds. This is his or her chance to showcase vocal talent while leaving any scene-stealing guitar solos on the cutting-room floor, nourishing the vanity of that narcissistic beast that is the frontman or frontwoman. Of course, not every solo project is a vainglorious ego trip to rival Brandon Flowers's Flamingo, but even the cream of the extracurricular crop seems trivial in its existence. Fran Healy is the featherlight crooner of the already docile British indie outfit Travis, and he breaks from his bandmates for this collection of especially soft acoustic numbers. Paul McCartney lends his bass guitar to one track and Neko Case her vocals to another, but Wreckorder rarely strays far enough from a Travis-lite sound to justify Healy's decision to go solo. Lead single "Buttercups," for example, is your token Travis tune. Healy's voice is beautifully strained as he lets his unrequited love narrative unfold, bouncing along the bijou twangs of the same acoustic guitar sound that adorned The Invisible Band's more intimate moments. And with "Holiday" and "Anything," Wreckorder floods back to the darker turns of 12 Memories. Essentially, the listener is ushered through Travis's hummable back catalogue for large portions of the album, only here the tracks are served without the dynamism and verve of a group effort. To achieve this aforesaid dynamism, then, Healy turns to his distinguished roll of featured guests. His duet with Case on "Sing Me to Sleep" works wondrously, her dusty country sonic supplementing Healy's honeyed croon for an off-kilter lullaby finished with ghostly slide guitar. It must be said that McCartney's turn on "As It Comes" isn't exactly distinguishable, and hardly warrants Healy's decision to give thanks by way of turning vegetarian, but it's still one of the album's strongest tracks. Healy adopts the guise of a world-withered pensioner casting a tearful eye on his romance and marriage, telling a stirring tale which is complemented beautifully by a resonant piano melody and subtle string work....full text |
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