In an auspicious start to The Fray's new era, The Fray Is Back opens on the driving grooves, shimmering textures, and gilded guitar tones of "Angeleno Moon": a soulful and soaring anthem that strikes a potent balance of dreamy nostalgia and forward-looking urgency. All throughout the EP, King reveals his gift for transforming the subtlest moments into songs with tremendous emotional impact. Sparked from a chance encounter in a coffee shop, "Same Thing" offers a bracingly honest look at struggling to break free from self-limiting patterns. Next, on "Not Now," The Fray bring fluttering piano melodies to a heavy-hearted meditation on fractured relationships and the passage of time. "Years ago in New York City I drank a bottle of wine with some people who were very close to me, and afterward we decided to write down our hopes and put them in the bottle to read ten years later," says King. "Now life has changed for all of us, and I still have that bottle in my garage and don't know what to do with it. 'Not Now' came from that experience and from asking, 'What do you with the dreams you once shared with someone else?'" From there, the EP takes on a euphoric mood as "Don't Look Down" channels the pure joy of true connection, then slips into wistful reminiscence on the folk-tinged storytelling of "Time Well Wasted." Finally, on "Known You Always,"The Fray Is Backcloses out with a piano-driven reflection on loss, acceptance, and the way certain people leave an indelible imprint on our lives.