The Fray

iTunes Review

A nervous sort of compassion pervades The Fray’s self-titled 2009 sophomore album. Those who connected with the Denver-based quartet’s huge 2006 hit “How to Save a Life” will find a similar combination of atmospheric, piano-centered melody and earnestly delivered emotion throughout this release. Once again, singer Isaac Slade’s gnarled phrasing and general air of anxiousness is the focal point of the band’s tunes. Songs like “Where the Story Ends,” “Enough for Now” and “We Build Then We Break” allude to unhealed family wounds and looming romantic breakups in fragmented, pain-wracked imagery. As the closing track “Happiness” makes clear, joy is difficult to find in Fray-land. Spiritual issues are touched upon, with God Himself coming in for a tongue-lashing in “You Found Me.” The album’s arrangements favor shimmering textures over rhythmic drive, often settling into rolling mid-tempo grooves à la Keane, Coldplay and early U2. When the formula catches fire — as it does on “Never Say Never” and “Ungodly Hour,” for instance — the band’s music conveys a genuine sense of longing and need.