Media-industry investment business Ingenious has signed its second deal with record label Independiente, having agreed to invest an initial £2 million in the production of melodic Scottish pop-rock outfit Travis’ fifth album. Both of Ingenious’ Music VCTs are involved in the deal.

The as yet untitled album, which is scheduled for release later this year, is being overseen by highly regarded producer Nigel Godrich (who has worked previously with the likes of Beck, Paul McCartney and Radiohead) and represents Ingenious’ second deal with Independiente so far this summer.

Back in June the two companies signed an agreement to finance the second release from Mercury Prize-nominated Martina Topley-Bird. Yet with Travis third album ‘The Man Who’ amongst the best selling British records of all time (shifting over 2.4 million copies) this latest deal represents a significant step-up in terms of profile.

‘This is a hugely exiting project for us and our Music VCTs,’ confesses Ingenious’ Duncan Reid. ‘We are especially delighted to be working with a band of such stature and talent as Travis. We are also pleased to be working with the team at Independiente and look forward to bringing more exciting acts to market in the coming months.’

In addition to the initial £2 million investment, Reid and his team say they expect to invest between £1-2 million more in the album’s promotion during the latter part of 2007.