Travis’ Fran Healy Is Happy To Hang Around: Salad

The yearning voice and sullen temperament behind the languid and lush Scottish outfit Travis, Fran Healy has been laying low of late. The primary task on his to-do list: commune with his diverse surroundings while recording his first solo effort in New York, Vermont and (mostly) Berlin. Whether the new Wreckorder (Ryko) benefits from that far-flung trio of locales—or guest appearances from Neko Case and Paul McCartney—is largely irrelevant to anyone who’s not already smitten by Healy’s majestically restrained brand of mope-rock understatement. The 10-song collection occasionally recalls the quieter moments on the already-pretty-quiet The Invisible Band, Travis’ 2001 LP. Only here, Healy turns even more insular as he’s left to stew in his own introspective juices. Healy will be guest-editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Q&A with him.

Healy: I used to hate salad, but now it’s growing on me. I am doing a detox just now called the Clean Program, which among other things kind of presses reset on your gut. It’s a 21-day thing and involves a shake in the morn and a shake in the eve and a solid meal at lunch and a bunch of supplements. I chose to do it on the road because I always eat so badly when I tour and at the wrong times, so it kind of simplified my routine. I’m on day 14 and feel strong.

Video after the jump.