Album review: Travis, Where You Stand (Red Telephone Box)

Travis's last album, 2008's Ode to J. Smith, disappeared virtually without trace, and it's hard to imagine Where You Stand faring much better, despite their attempts to upgrade their approach with a modish Swedish producer (Michael Ilbert) and the occasional delay echo or trip-hop groove — which, let's be honest, hardly represent the cutting-edge of contemporary pop stylistics. "Moving" apes the shameless anthemic yearning of Coldplay, and "A Different Room" has the windy bluster of U2. But it's the tiredness of the songwriting that cripples Where You Stand, with tracks like "Boxes", "New Shoes" and "The Big Screen" offering woefully inadequate metaphors for the way we live our lives.

Download: Moving; A Different Room