'How to Save a Life'. You remember the song. It was all over the charts and the radio about six years ago. That song that made grown adults cry. That song with such a huge poignant sentiment engulfing it it was impossible to ignore. You felt dirty for liking it because it was mesmerising and everywhere. Whatever happened to the band that made it?
Well, they released a bunch of other singles no-one bought and then an album that actually went Top 10 but no-one remembers, and now they're back for their first full-length since 2009s self-titled collection. First impressions were, quite honestly, those of ambivalence before listening to this record, but I was truly won over by opener and lead single Heartbeat. It's fairly safe, and not especially original. In fact, the introduction could quite easily have been written by Coldplay, and then the rest of it was very Eagles meet Counting Crows, until Coldplay take over again for the chorus, but for some reason best known to the higher powers, it seems to work. It's thick and heavy in places, punchy and fresh in others, and catchy in others. It's a good song, and the credit's going where it's due.
What was to follow wasn't so good though.
Basically, what The Fray do is write made for radio safe rock that is musically fine and is technically sound, but to the listener is generally a bit dull. They don't really do anything new, or exciting or influential. They have weepy slow ones like 'Run For Your Life', and they have more upbeat ones like '1961', and they all somehow manage to sound pretty much the same. It's really frustrating listening to this album and try to find something interesting to mention. A heart-jerking lyric, a strong riff, a thirteen minute drum solo. Anything! But alas, it was not to be.
The Fray are a bit like living in Norfolk, really. Sure it's got it's quaint little towns that few know anything about, and it's got one bit centrepiece city. There's plenty of space there and there's plenty to see, but all in all the whole thing's a little bit flat, and quite frankly, The Fray really need to go back to the drawing board to see why songs like “How to Save a Life” were so well received, while very little else has garnered any real sort of reaction.
So, ladies and gentlemen, if you like The Fray, I won't mock or make fun as everyone has the right to like what they want, but I'll be blunt and say that if this were a sandwich, then the meat in the middle is old, stale, and not worth a damn to much more than the bin, while the bread that holds it within is actually warm, fluffy and fresh. The two tracks that bookend this ongoing snooze are actually pretty good.
Yeah, I said two. Having already mentioned the opener earlier, Album closer 'Be Still' is a gentle piano-led almost lullaby that opens up the heartstrings a little and quietly puts the album to bed. It's a pretty little track that doesn't do anything too overpowering or out of place, it just keeps the music soft and discreet and the lyrics careful and delicate. Mournful and epic both at the same time, it's not the greatest track ever conceived, but it's a very decent closer. It's nice, for lack of a better term and does mean that the album closes on a positive, which is always a plus when you've dredged through nearly forty minutes of what can only be described, quite frankly, as pretty much middle of the road.
So in summary, this album is generally poor. It's got some glimmers of excitement, a couple of tiny flashes of genuine intrigue, but all in all the whole thing is like listening to the musical equivalent of doing the dishes: A bit grimy and mucky, but generally satisfying when it's all over. Scars and Stories? If this album were the story, then it's full of more than its fair share of scars.
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Well, they released a bunch of other singles no-one bought and then an album that actually went Top 10 but no-one remembers, and now they're back for their first full-length since 2009s self-titled collection. First impressions were, quite honestly, those of ambivalence before listening to this record, but I was truly won over by opener and lead single Heartbeat. It's fairly safe, and not especially original. In fact, the introduction could quite easily have been written by Coldplay, and then the rest of it was very Eagles meet Counting Crows, until Coldplay take over again for the chorus, but for some reason best known to the higher powers, it seems to work. It's thick and heavy in places, punchy and fresh in others, and catchy in others. It's a good song, and the credit's going where it's due. 
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