The Fray – The Fray

After the immense success of their first album, How to Save a Life, with its best-selling single of the same name, The Fray attempt to sustain their popular acclaim with their rather blandly entitled second release, The Fray. The word slow-burning may have been invented for The Fray. Except the problem is that this follow-up from the Denver-based band ultimately fails to ignite its listeners’ ears. Most of the songs seem to blend into a poor man’s amalgamation of Snow Patrol, Coldplay, The Script and numerous other similar acts.

The album’s lyrics are often lost amongst the repetitive drum beats and what feels like vague background noise. Even after much careful concentration, it is difficult to understand the point of The Fray; just what is it that they want to tell us? Syndicate opens on a promising note, with its well-constructed and uplifting melody, whereby the band assure us: “Baby don’t forget / You haven’t lost it all yet”.

And the record’s lead single, and Grey’s Anatomy staple You Found Me, with its haunting refrain of “Lost and insecure, you found me, you found me / Lying on the floor, where were you? Where were you?” perfectly encapsulates that sense of being awake at 3am wondering what has become of your life.

However, the sombre attempts of lead singer Isaac Slade to rouse listeners into some kind of emotional reaction with his overwrought lamentations during subsequent songs only serves to increase the so-so feel of the record. Piano-harmonies, guitar riffs and unoriginal string arrangements seem to be casually thrown into the melting pot of general angst.

Indeed, there is something painfully ironic about the titles of the latter songs on the album.

Where The Story Ends and Enough For Now prove a hilarious but rather unintended commentary on audience endurance levels, as The Fray wade deeper into the musical quicksand of their own creation. The former track is so mind-numbingly dull, and sung in such a dreary tone, that it is practically coma-inducing; I had actually had to leave the room to regain consciousness. Whereas, Enough For Now is merely a watered down version of You Found Me, featuring mumbling vocals and sweeping orchestration to disguise its mediocrity.

Overall, The Fray is a disappointing effort. The Fray’s distinctly lazy offering eludes any real engagement with its music. One can only hope that they receive the wake-up call in time, instead of coasting along on the relative merit of the occasional single.