For Manila concert, The Fray switches gears in 3rd pop rock album

There’s a certain aesthetic continuity to The Fray’s sound -- a heady and melodic mix of piano-led groove rock and melancholy pop that speaks in an intimate language, pitched somewhere between arena-ready and campfire whispers.      You probably know them from their popular hit “How to Save a Life,” made popular by the even more gargantuan TV shows “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scrubs.”   While the Grammy-nominated first single (and the equally LSS-worthy “Over My Head”) has become overplayed to saturation, the resulting fame has enabled The Fray to parlay their brand of U2 meets Counting Crows into a stellar and critically-acclaimed career that’s now lasted for three albums and running.   Saturday evening of November 10, the quartet from Colorado will finally render their first concert on Philippine shores at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, as presented by That’s Ntertainment.   Currently composed of Isaac Slade (piano and vocals), Joe King (guitars and vocals), Dave Welsh (guitars) and Ben Wysocki (drums), the band is in town to promote the album “Scars and Stories.”   In the third full-length LP in The Fray’s discography, there’s a noticeable change of gears for the band that has used the middle way between love and misery. Though they stay well within their musical territory, the songs here have more air, more atmosphere, but still built on the rock of the piano as conductor and leader.

The first single “Heartbeat” certainly has that joyful lilt that hits its stride and explodes when the chorus comes in. Even the ballad “I Can Barely Say” will kick the emotional stirrups of people at the very back of an arena with its strong ambiance.   The band attributes this new sound to working with superproducer Brendan O’Brien, the man who’s helmed a laundry list of hit rock albums by the biggest acts, stretching back to the mid-1980s. Seminal LPs like Aerosmith’s “Get a Grip,” Pearl Jam’s “Versus” and even Bruce Springsteen’s “The Rising” owe their signature sound to O’Brien’s genius.     “[Brendan] really taught us how to believe in ourselves,” said vocalist and pianist Isaac Slade at the press conference held earlier today at the Holiday Inn, Ortigas. “He was all about momentum.”   “We’ve been fans of Brendan’s work for years and he’s produced some of our favorite bands,” opined guitarist Joe King.   “In the first two records we were very intimate and had a close kind of sound. We needed somebody who knew how to get that change in sound, that big sound. We really wanted to make songs that reached the back row. In the end [Brendan] really pushed us. We went into it kind of tail between our legs just because of who he was. Yeah I guess there was a bit of being intimidated there.”   It’s certainly paid off for the band’s third record. “Scars and Stories” has debuted at number four on the Billboard Hot 200m with the singles “Heartbeat” and “Run For Your Life” already certified radio hits. — ELR, GMA News Photo courtesy of That's Ntertainment