The Frames' fifth album arrives with Glen Hansard's voice at its most raw. Recorded in Dublin and released through ANTI, it pulls together the kind of guitar-driven rock the band had been refining since the early nineties, but here the edges feel sharper. Falling Slowly and When Your Mind's Made Up both landed in the film Once the following year, which tells you something about their reach beyond the indie circuit. The production leaves space around the instruments. Acoustic strums sit next to electric builds, and Hansard's delivery shifts from a near-whisper to a full-throated push without much warning.
Tracks like The Cost and Rise move through slow-burn verses into choruses that open up, while Sad Songs keeps things spare. It is not an easy listen in the sense that it demands you meet it halfway. The pacing can feel uneven, and some of the longer tracks test patience if you are after hooks. But for those drawn to emotionally direct rock with a folk backbone, it holds up. Dublin's fingerprints are all over it, though the sound itself could have come from anywhere people still care about dynamics.
