Travis Tap Chris Martin and Brandon Flowers for Single ‘Raze the Bar’

Travis has released a new single, “Raze the Bar,” featuring Coldplay‘s Chris Martin and the Killers‘ Brandon Flowers. The song recounts a bittersweet story about the closure of Black and White bar, a much-loved New York haunt for the band, recounting a fictional last night there before it closed.

“There was a great bar in New York City,” Fran Healy said in a statement. “It didn’t have a name but everyone called it Black and White on account of the black and white striped awning that hung over the entrance. They had poetry nights, great DJs, open mic nights. If you played a show at Irving Plaza or Webster Hall, chances are you ended up at Black and White ’til the wee small hours. 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.”

He added, “During the pandemic, their landlord refused to negotiate a reduced rent and they had to close. So, in the middle of the night, they turned up with a truck and removed every single trace and fixture of the bar. Then they white washed the whole space so it could never be repeated. ‘Raze the Bar’ is a song about a fictional last night in the bar. Johnny is in there, Jack, Richard and Johnny’s brother and bar co-owner Chris. The cameos were almost an afterthought! 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!’ And because he and Brandon Flowers both live quite near…”

“Raze the Bar” comes off Travis’ forthcoming LP, L.A. Times, which was produced by Tony Hoffer. It’s the second track to emerge from the album, out July 12 via BMG.

“L.A. Times is our most personal album since The Man Who,” Healy explained. “There was a lot of big stuff to write about back then, the tectonic plates had shifted in my life. I was 22 when I was writing those songs. They were my therapy. Over 20 years later and the plates have shifted again. There’s a lot to talk about.” 

Travis hit the road in support of the album this summer. The band will perform with the Killers across their 16-date U.K. arena tour through June and July, and will return to Europe in August and September for their first headlining tour across the continent since 2016. More U.K. tour dates will be announced soon.

Healy spoke to NME about the tour with the Killers, noting, “We’ve been friends for years and years now and Ronnie [Vannucci Jr.] and Brandon are the sweetest guys. It’s nice to be a support band again too. I love being a support band. It reminds me of when we supported Oasis. We went on every single night to blow them off the stage, which is what a good support band should be doing. You go on, the other band watch you from the wings going, ‘Fuck’. And then they come on and do a better show because of it.”