On its third album, The Fray journeys across physical and emotional landscapes as it fortifies its music with a bolder production approach. Producer Brendan O'Brien pushes The Fray toward a more muscular, aggressive sound while retaining the graceful piano interludes that defined the band's earlier work. Lead singer Isaac Slade continues to project a heroic (if tormented) presence in defiantly idealistic numbers like
Heartbeat,
Here We Are, and
The Fighter. He takes on a seafarer's spirit in
The Wind and delivers a compelling romantic vignette in
Rainy Zurich. The band's underlying Christian faith is expressed most clearly in the stately, hymn-like
Be Still. At its best, The Fray has the power to disarm the most cynical listener with a heartfelt ballad-it does that here in
I Can Barely Say, a falsetto-tinged confession of need draped with dramatic orchestration. Big in sound and ambitious in scope,
Scars & Stories aims for a wide audience but doesn't lose its humanity in the process. - iTunes
CD Details
- Release Date: February 07, 2012
- Record Label: Epic
- UPC: 886975780228
- Number of Discs: 1
Listen Before You Buy
