Ivory Music & Video, the exclusive licensee of Sony Music in the Philippines, recently released the critically acclaimed Denver-based foursome The Fray’s third album “Scars & Stories,” available in all music stores nationwide. The first single off the new album “Heartbeat” premiered on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”


The Fray, who received a 2010 Grammy nomination for both their double-platinum debut and self-titled sophomore effort, have made numerous television appearances including “The David Letterman Show,” “The Today Show,” “Good Morning America,” “The Tonight Show,” and many more. The Fray’s 2005 album “How to Save a Life,” which featured the hit single of the same name, garnered critical praise from People Magazine, who called the album “addictive.”


Scars & Stories leads with “Heartbeat,” of which lead-singer Isaac Slade notes, “That song came out of a period of my life when I was trying hard to be open to whatever came my way. I traveled through South Africa and Rwanda with a buddy, and at first it was really hard to stay open in the face of so much pain and heartache. But then I ended up meeting so many cool and inspiring people, and all these ideas for lyrics and melodies just started rushing in.”

The inspiration specifically came from a chance meeting with an expatriate woman. Speaking of the miracle of the capital city overcoming such remarkable odds, the two held hands and Slade reveals, “I felt so connected to her. I couldn’t tell if it was her pulse or mine.”


The album was recorded at the legendary Blackbird Studios in Nashville. The Fray was able to hone their sound with the help of producer Brendan O’Brien (Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and Neil Young). On the new recording, the band transforms their real life experiences into a collection of songs that are reflective, but still maintain a pop sensibility.

The making of Scars and Stories fostered the most evolution the band has ever experienced, both lyrically and musically. “On our first record, we didn’t quite trust ourselves yet,” says Slade. “We loosened up on the second album, but there was still some element of restraint. But on this one, we just stepped up to plate and swung as hard as we could.”


The Fray is Isaac Slade (pianist/vocalist), Joe King (guitarist/vocalist), Dave Welsh (guitarist), and Ben Wysocki (drummer). The band formed in 2002 after high school friends Slade and King bumped into each other at a local guitar shop.

The group achieved national success with their first single, “Over My Head (Cable Car),” which became a top ten hit in the U.S. The release of their second single, “How to Save a Life” brought them worldwide fame, and the group's second self-titled album debuted at number-one on the Billboard charts and was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. The Fray was ranked #84 on Billboard’s “Artists of the Decade” in 2010.

Meanwhile, the band’s first foray into the Philippine concert stage has been postponed to a later date. Keep yourself in the know with What’s Going On with The Fray by making logging on to Juice.ph a habit.

While we await our teachers of “How to Save a Life” to come into the Manila scene, the good folks from Ivory Music & Video and Juice.ph are giving out 10 copies of “Scars & Stories.” Name a song from The Fray’s third time’s still a charm album and tell us why it relates to you.

(Example: The song from The Fray’s “Scars & Stories” that really got to me was track #7, “I Can Barely Say,” because as the boys sing, “All I know is I want to stay.”)

Promo has been re-extended: Juice.ph will announce the 10 winners on July 3 at 3:00 PM on this page.

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