Denver-based band The Fray has come a long way from the coffee shops of west Denver. Their piano-driven pop sound has garnered them Billboard Music Awards and Grammy nominations, their debut album How to Save a Life went double-platinum, and they’ve played some of the greatest venues in the world. Local fans most recently got to see them open for U2 at Invesco Field (now Sports Authority Field) during the U2 360 Tour last spring. And their latest single “Heartbeat” from their third full-length release Scars & Stories(which drops today) is already charting on the Billboard Hot 100.
Ironically, for a band whose sound has been frequently described as “piano rock,” the first impression on fans in playing the new record might be: where is the piano? Answer: it’s still there—just quite a bit lower in the mix on many of the tracks. Produced by Brendan O’Brien (Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, Bruce Springsteen), Scars & Stories goes for a slightly more mainstream pop/rock sound, without losing the basic elements that make The Fray stand out as a band. (In other words, it still sounds like The Fray.)
That said, from a musical standpoint, listeners won’t find anything tremendously revolutionary or groundbreaking on the album. If you liked The Fray before, you’ll like this record, maybe even more than the previous one. There’s plenty to like here: catchy, radio-friendly hooks, powerful, honest lyrics, and of course, the raw, vulnerable voice of frontman Isaac Slade. Besides the single “Heartbeat,” other promising tracks on the record include “The Fighter,” “Run For Your Life,” and “Here We Are.”
Local fans can catch The Fray live in a few months, when they headline at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on May 11. Meanwhile, Scars & Stories is definitely worth a listen.
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