After their third album, Scars And Stories, caught an L (well deserved, too…it sucked,) Denver’s very own The Fray (you remember, the “How To Save A Life” guys?) got pressured by the record company went back to the drawing board and decided to change their steez a little bit. For their fourth album, Helios, which is due in January, they’ve recruited Stuart Price (who’s worked with The Killers, Seal and Madonna) as well as Ryan Tedder, frontman for OneRepublic and the most vanilla, milquetoast writer/producer working in pop music today.
First single “Love Don’t Die” went on sale Monday, and it’s certainly a departure. The jury’s still out on whether it’s a good one. It’s nice that the band (previously best known for earnest piano ballads) is upping the tempo a little bit, and “Die” is certainly catchier than anything on their last album, but is this another case of a band losing their identity to stay on the charts a little longer? We see how that worked for Gavin DeGraw, who can’t sell a record to save his life these days.
The jury’s out on this one. Give it a few listens and let us know what you think.