The Boy with No Name

The Boy with No Name
Studio album by Travis
Released 7 May 2007
Recorded December 2004 – January 2007
Studio
Genre Indie pop, alternative rock
Length 52:54
Label Independiente, Epic
Producer Travis, Steve Orchard, Nigel Godrich, Mike Hedges
Travis chronology
Singles
(2004)		 The Boy with No Name
(2007)		 Ode to J. Smith
(2008)
Singles from The Boy with No Name
  1. "Closer"
    Released: 23 April 2007
  2. "Selfish Jean"
    Released: 9 July 2007
  3. "My Eyes"
    Released: 17 September 2007

The Boy with No Name is the fifth studio album from Scottish indie pop band Travis. The album was released on 7 May 2007 through Epic Records. The album sold over 442,900 copies worldwide.

Background

The name of the album came about when lead singer Fran Healy and his partner Nora were deciding on a name for their newly born son. During this time, he sent a photo of his son to a friend by email and labeled the photo "The Boy with No Name". Healy revealed this on The Chris Moyles Show during an interview. Healy has also revealed in pre-album release performances that some tracks are influenced by his developing family status, such as "My Eyes" being about his new son or "Battleships" referring to ups and downs of relationships.

Travis dedicated this album to the Abbey Road Studios chief master engineer Chris Blair and British world champion rally driver Richard Burns, who died of a brain tumour at the age of 34 in 2005.[2]

During recording the band discovered they were nearby British band Feeder in the same studio both in different recording rooms. Feeder were recording what would be their fifth studio album Pushing the Senses. It soon occurred that Fran and Dougie helped out Feeder with some recording of the album; their voices appeared as backing vocals for the final chorus of the track "Tumble and Fall" and was its first single.

For the track "Under the Moonlight", backing vocals were recorded by singer-songwriter KT Tunstall, and the song "Battleships" features backing vocals by Julia Stone.

Release

The Boy with No Name entered at #4 on the UK Album Charts. In the U.S., the album debuted at number 58 on the Billboard 200, selling 12,000 copies in its first week.[3] The album went gold in the UK. "Closer" was released as the first single from the album in the United Kingdom on 23 April 2007, and peaked at #10 in the UK Singles Chart (see 2007 in British music). Second single "Selfish Jean" made #30. The final single, "My Eyes", reached #60 - their lowest chart placing during their career at the time. The full album was available to purchase at the Virgin Megastore at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California over the weekend of 27 April 2007 – 29 April 2007.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic57/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
BBCfavourable[6]
Digital Spy[7]
NME2/10[8]
New York Daily Newsfavourable[9]
Pitchfork Media5.6/10[10]
Philadelphia Inquirer[11]
Rolling Stone[12]
Q
PopMatters6/10[13]

The Boy with No Name received mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 57 based on 20 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews".[4]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."3 Times and You Lose"  Fran Healy • Andy DunlopSteve Orchard4:14
2."Selfish Jean"  HealyMike Hedges4:00
3."Closer"  HealySteve Orchard • Nigel Godrich4:00
4."Big Chair"  Healy • DunlopSteve Orchard4:07
5."Battleships"  HealySteve Orchard • Nigel Godrich4:11
6."Eyes Wide Open"  HealyMike Hedges2:59
7."My Eyes"  HealySteve Orchard • Nigel Godrich4:08
8."One Night"  HealyGeorge Tandero4:00
9."Under the Moonlight"  Susie HugSteve Orchard4:00
10."Out in Space"  HealySteve Orchard • Nigel Godrich3:35
11."Colder"  Healy • Dougie PayneSteve Orchard4:06
12."New Amsterdam"  HealySteve Orchard2:37
13."Sailing Away" (hidden track)HealyNigel Godrich3:35

Chart

Year Chart Peak
position
2007 Norwegian Album Chart 2
2007 UK Album Chart 4
2007 Swiss Album Chart 7
2007 Mexican Album Chart 12
2007 Italian Album Chart 16
2007 Canadian Album Chart 49
2007 Spanish Album Chart 54
2007 U.S. Billboard Top 200 58
2007 Australian Album Charts 97
2007 Austrian Album Charts 18
2007 French Album Charts 41
2007 German Album Charts 8
2007 Irish Album Charts 20
2007 Swedish Album Charts 51

Personnel

Travis
Additional personnel[1]
  • Travis – production (except track 13)
  • Steve Orchard – production (except tracks 2, 6, 8, 10 and 13), engineering (except tracks 8 and 13)
  • Mike Hedges – production (tracks 2 and 6), vocal recordings (tracks 3, 5, 7, 10 and 11)
  • George Tandero – production and engineering (track 8), mixing (tracks 4, 5 and 8)
  • Nigel Godrich – additional production (tracks 3, 5, 7 and 10), engineering (track 13)
  • Matthieu Clouard – production assistant (tracks 2 and 6), vocal recordings (tracks 3, 7, 10 and 11)
  • Jens L Thomsen – assistant engineer (track 8)
  • Michael H. Brauer – mixing (except tracks 4, 5 and 8)
  • Will Hensley – mix assistant (except tracks 4 and 5)
  • Emery Dobyns – Washington Square Park recording (track 12)
  • Ian McAndrew – management
  • Colin Lester – management
  • Tappin Gofton – design and art direction
  • Stefan Ruiz – photography
Additional musicians[1]
  • Julia Stone – backing vocals (track 5)
  • KT Tunstall – backing vocals (track 9)
  • Manon Morris – harp (track 11)
  • Sarah Clarke – clarinet (track 12)
  • Joby Talbot – string arrangement (track 2)
  • Chris Worsey – cello (track 2)
  • Ian Burdge – cello (tracks 2, 3, 5 and 7)
  • Zoe Martlew – cello (track 2)
  • Lucy Wilkins – violin (track 2)
  • Louisa Fuller – violin (track 2)
  • Helena Wood – violin (track 2)
  • Rick Koster – violin (track 2)
  • Richard George – violin (track 2)
  • Louisa Aldridge – violin (track 2)
  • Jonathan Hill – violin (track 2)
  • Darragh Morgan – violin (track 2)
  • Jeff Moore – violin (track 2)
  • Natalia Bonner – violin (track 2)
  • Adrian Smith – viola (track 2)
  • Reiad Chibah – viola (track 2)
  • John Metcalfe – viola (tracks 2, 3 and 7)
  • Rachel Robson – viola (track 2)
  • Sally Herbert – string arrangement and violin (tracks 3, 5 and 7)
  • Everton Nelson – violin (tracks 3 and 7)
  • Calina De La Mare – violin (track 5)
  • Oli Langford – viola (track 5)

References

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