It’s the band’s first major outing in two years and comes as the group survived an extraordinarily rough year. Drummer Neil Primrose sustained a spinal injury in a swimming accident, and the prognostic looked grim enough that the future of Travis was in doubt.

But thankfully, Primrose has made a complete recovery and after a much-needed rest, Travis are back.

Although they’re traditionally known for their melancholy love songs, or songs about love gone wrong, Travis have taken a decidedly different turn with their new album, 12 Memories.

For a start, they’ve gone, well, somewhat political.

Two tracks on 12 Memories are decidedly anti-war anthems – “Peace The F**k Out” and “The Beautiful Occupation.”

“The Beautiful Occupation,” the band’s forthcoming single, was written by lead singer Fran Healy as war with Iraq was looming and is Travis’ peace rally. Incidentally, the group is donating all proceeds from the song to charity group Warchild.