Travis almost didn't make it to today's release of their latest disc. A spinal chord injury suffered by drummer Neil Primose a year ago after he hit his head on the bottom of a swimming pool forced the Glaswegian pop band to seriously consider calling it quits. Instead, Primose sat at his kit three weeks later for just 10 to 15 minutes a day.

Now the Scottish quartet is back, if not exactly primed to return to its former glory after 2001's The Invisible Band didn't meet with the same unanimously positive reception as 1999's breakthrough disc, The Man Who.

The new collection, which is heavily textured and brims with new sounds -- piano, strings, horns, drum machines, and vocal harmonies -- is far from guaranteed hit material.

For the first time, the group -- who wanted to challenge themselves -- opted to self-produce with help from Steve Orchard and Tchad Blake.

On the positive side is the such piano-driven, pretty pop of Quicksand, How Many Hearts and the untitled hidden track; the strings-bolstered first single Re-Offender and Walking Down The Hill ; the anthemic Love Will Come Through and the slow-building Happy To Hang Around.

Elsewhere, some may find Peace The F--k Out overzealous in its execution despite its positive message, while a similar response may greet the stripped-down and experimental Paperclips and the slightly obvious Mid-Life Krysis.

Track Listing
1. Quicksand
2. The Beautiful Occupation
3. Re-Offender
4. Peace The F**k Out
5. How Many Hearts
6. Paperclips
7. Somewhere Else
8. Love Will Come Through
9. Mid-life Krysis
10. Happy To Hang Around
11. Walking Down The Hill
12. Some Sad Song