The Fray - Self Titled
As a massive fan of The Fray’s first album, How To Save A Life, I was overjoyed when a copy of their new, self-titled, album landed on my desk last week. After hearing You Found Me on the radio non-stop for the last few months, it was time to see if the rest of the album was as good as the lead track.
I wasn’t disappointed either; opener Syndicate does a great job at showing off Isaac Slade’s incredible vocals and shows off everything The Fray are about, from the beautiful piano-led opening to Ben Wysocki’s heart melting drum beats that holds it all together.
Next up is Absolute which is yet another corker of a song; despite the fact that The Fray don’t deliver overly ‘dance along’ songs, this is probably one of their more ‘upbeat’ songs and the ferocity of the lyrics find their way into our hearts through the various different paces weaved into the track.
If you haven‘t heard song three, You Found Me you have to have been about a mile from any radio over the last couple of weeks, because this track has been played to death. The funny thing is that when I heard Lady Gaga for the fourth time I want to rip my ears off, but the magical quality of You Found Me never seems to get old for me, or overplayed.
Never Say Never is the classic love song sounding track that every good album should have slipped in there somewhere. Isaac’s voice accompanied by a lone piano is just blissful until Ben joins in the action just in time for the swoon-tastic chorus. It’s one of those songs that would be played over a movie scene where the guy / girl finally gets the person they’ve been pining after for the past hour.
Where The Story Ends sees The Fray place a curious toe in the waters of funky town as they liven it up a bit for four minutes of pure genius, the piano chords that make an appearance every so often are equally as exiting and I remember just why I loved The Fray ever since I heard How To Save A Life
Enough For Now and Say When are both equally loveable tracks which are great examples of Isaac, Joe, Ben and Dave doing what they do best, they aren’t the standout tracks for me, but at the same time, there is nothing critical I can say about them.
Ungodly Hour is a five-minute masterpiece which allows the band to tread the boards of the song with care and dignity. The song seems very slow and deliberate as Isaac tells a story with the words. However, that care is smashed to pieces with We Build Then We Break which see’s the lads almost venture into this weird electro indie pop world that music seems to be wobbling into at the moment. It’s very Starsailor-ish, only better.
Closing track Happiness is another five minute wonder which builds up to a great finale to this record… I know five minutes can always seem a little long unless you are a band like Led Zeppelin or something; but for any Fray fans (like little old me) I’m sure this will go down a treat.
Whether you’re a fan of The Fray or not; you really need to give this album a listen because it’s what music should really be about these days; honesty and simplicity.
Rating: 5/5 - A lovely flawless follow-up to How To Save A Life
Skip To: Never Say Never - That is unless you’ve just been dumped.