Scottish quartet Travis are back with “Raze the Bar,” the latest cut from their forthcoming album L.A. Times. This time, they’ve brought some friends along the way: Coldplay’s Chris Martin and The Killers’ Brandon Flowers.
Evoking a late night pub singalong, “Raze the Bar” is fittingly an ode to the New York City spot The Black and White Bar, which closed during the pandemic. According to Travis songwriter and vocalist Fran Healy, the bar was a mainstay for artists and musicians over the last 30 years: “If you played a show at Irving Plaza or Webster Hall, chances are you ended up at Black and White till the wee small hours,” Healy says in a statement. “One of the owners, Johnny T, looked after so many artists and bands over the years. If that bar could talk, what a story it would tell.”
To help immortalize the bar, its patrons, and its pair of owners, Travis have put a photo of them all for the single artwork for “Raze the Bar,” and the song follows a fictionalized tale of the bar’s final night. As for the Chris Martin and Brandon Flowers features, Travis felt it was important to honor the camaraderie of The Black and White Bar by having friends join him. “I just called Chris Martin in a bit of a panic because I couldn’t figure out what the track sequence should be. When Chris heard it, he was like, ‘That song is the best thing you’ve ever written!’,” Healy says.
“Raze the Bar” is the band’s second single off L.A. Times, following March’s “Gaslight.” With Fran Healy deeming the record to be the band’s “most personal album since The Man Who,” L.A. Times is the Scottish band’s first album since 2020’s 10 Songs and will be released on July 12th. Travis are also celebrating their friendship with Brandon Flowers and The Killers with a 2024 late summer tour in the UK and Europe; get tickets for those dates on viagogo.
“Raze the Bar” Single Artwork: