Album Review: The Fray – A Light That Waits
3 min read
The Fray, for me, are a band synonymous with piano-led, slow-burning anthems, quietly building in atmospheric noise whilst simultaneously being somewhat lyrically relatable – a sound that defined a subsection of the mid-2000s, and one they’ve carried with them, for better or for worse, ever since. After a dozen long (too long, btw) years away, A Light That Waits serves more as a reintroduction than a fifth album of the Coloradan band, which comes together through time, distance, change, and the perspective only such a hiatus can bring. Let’s hope there’s a sense of a band not chasing where they were with nostalgia bait, but considering where they are now – and what still connects – in their music. Anyway, enough of that — let’s see what they’ve actually come back with.
Title track A Light That Waits kicks things off up tempo, with a hint of The Snuts’ Millionaires about it, but not a rip off by any means, and not a hint of nostalgia bait about it, and flows into the equally up tempo Still Got You. Ice Cold Lakes next, which feels like a classic Indie track from the early 2000’s, the piano chords I consider synonymous with the Fray present but very much not centre stage, while we switch the pace down a few notches to the swell-inducing My Heart’s A Crowded Room, though I was left a little flat, as there was no crescendo to pay off the euphoric swell and surge that weaved through the track. A strong contender for best track on the album, Emerald, follows, and has managed the formidable balancing act of feeling current with notes of 1970’s and 1980’s throughout… an excellent track.
Probably the track that I would consider the most ‘The Fray’ OG track, Wherever You Reach For Me, next – piano lead, building a swell of euphoric rises to the crescendo at the crux of the track, leading to subdued outro, and this slower, more orchestral sounding track is how Let Me Go First begins – but this switches early on to a catchy skip beat and an up-tempo yet down-mood track, and is a definite contender for my favourite of the album. Another down tempo track, Songs I’d Rather Not Sing has some poignant messaging (sometimes ‘storms’ are needed to appreciate what we’ve got), while Tasted Glory is a more up tempo catchy track, and penultimate track After You, Only God is a moody, stripped back slow track that flourishes at the end. We see out A Light That Waits with Sea Level Drive, rounding off the offering with a slowed down stripped back track, where the lyrics and acoustic guitar guide us to the album’s conclusion.
I was more than pleasantly surprised by A Light That Waits – think I was expecting a band jumping on the nostalgia bait bandwagon, with a bunch of songs that were sloppily assembled, praying on the yearning of die-hards to throw a little money their way. I was wrong… very wrong. The Fray have produced an album which is fresh & modern, yet constructed with a craftsmanship that only a seasoned artist could achieve. The whole album was fantastic, but I think I’ll be adding two tracks to my 2026 favourites – Emerald and Let Me Go First. Other bands should take note – this is how you do a comeback album!!!
