Denver band The Fray released their latest album, “Helios” on Feb. 25. The band, known best for its worldwide hit “How to Save a Life,” and other songs of that same piano-rock ballad style, has reproduced that sound over several tracks in this new album, although not with the pre-released single “Love Don’t Die.” This album does show more of a variety but it does seem as though the ballad style, as seen in their previous singles “How to Save a Life,” and “Over My Head (Cable Car),” is an equation that works best for their band.

“Love Don’t Die,” is different as it relies more on guitar and rhythm than the usual piano songs and is the product of not only Isaac Slade, lead vocalist, and Joe King, lead guitarist, but also Ryan Tedder of the band OneRepublic. It definitely is a song to check out.

“Give it Away,” is another song that strays from their usual style. This song brings in a bit of a funky factor with a great disco-style beat.

Another track that stood out was “Wherever This Goes,” which could have been better if it went along with their usual style. Instead of a piano, this song has what sounds like a gospel choir. While some may prefer the piano, the gospel choir was an interesting choice thrown into this album. You can tell they did a lot with their other songs too. A lot of the chord progressions featured major chords instead of minor chords, giving a kind of optimistic feeling often missing from their other songs.

Other songs featured a different style that was more upbeat and sounded more like pop rock from bands like Train. Notable tracks like “Love Don’t Die,” “Give It Away,” and “Wherever this Goes” broke up the monotony of the newer upbeat songs that were all quite similar.

The one word that describes “Helios§ is definitely variety. It seems as though The Fray decided to try a bit of everything to see what would stick. Their most popular songs to this point have been less upbeat and maybe a style change was just what the doctor ordered.