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Fran Healy, "Wreckorder"

by Mikael Wood  |   October 08, 2010 5:50 EDT

Artists in this Article

The Beatles
Paul McCartney
Travis
Neko Case
Thom Yorke

Travis singer Fran Healy recruited a pair of high-profile pals for help on his first solo disc, "Wreckorder." On the Beatles-esque track "As It Comes," that's none other than Paul McCartney playing bass, while Neko Case shows up for a typically gorgeous vocal turn in the country-inflected "Sing Me to Sleep." ("We got married in a Vegas bar" is a lyric Case might've been born to deliver.) For the most part, though, "Wreckorder"-which was inspired by a stripped-down U.S. tour Healy and Travis guitarist Andy Dunlop did last year-captures the Scottish singer/guitarist in introspective one-man-show mode. Moody cuts like "In the Morning" and "Anything" suggest a kind of analog-world equivalent of Thom Yorke's 2006 solo effort, "The Eraser." Given Healy's winsome vocals and his good-guy image, the grab at gravitas doesn't always connect: "You make me late for my appointment with my best friend in the bar," he tells someone during the song "Fly in the Ointment," and the effect is not unlike that of a kid trying on his dad's clothes

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