''Fragile Figures'' is the second studio album by American

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...

band

Secrets Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controvers ...

released through Velocity and Rise Records on July 23, 2013. It is the band's second album produced by

Tom Denney Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

, and the first and only release with vocalist Aaron Melzer. The album sold over 10,000 copies on its first month, and reached number 59 on ''Billboard'' 200 chart in 2013. The deluxe edition of the album was released on May 27, 2014, with 3 new songs and a remix of the track "Ready for Repair". It is the only release to include former vocalist Aaron Melzer before his departure in 2015 and death in 2020.

Background

The band teamed up again with producer

(ex-

A Day to Remember A Day to Remember (often abbreviated ADTR, and previously known as End of an Era) is an American rock band from Ocala, Florida, founded in 2003 by guitarist Tom Denney and drummer Bobby Scruggs. They are known for their amalgamation of meta ...

) who produced their debut album ''

The Ascent Ascent or The Ascent may refer to: Publications * ''Ascent'' (magazine), an independent, not-for-profit magazine * ''Ascent'' (journal), a literary journal based at Concordia College * ''Ascent'' (novel), by Jed Mercurio * ''Times Ascent'', a ...

''. Vocally, the sound was going to be different from the previous album, as the former

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

Xander Bourgeois who sang on the debut album, left in April and was replaced with a new lead vocalist Aaron Melzer, formerly with the band Author & Finisher. Also Richard Rogers worked on his vocals for this album with Eric Ron who is specialized in vocal production.

Promotion

The debut single from the album, "Ready for Repair", along with a music video, was released on June 10, 2013. The single was available only as instant download with the album pre-order bundle. The second song from the album "Live Together, Die Alone" premiered on June 25. A lyric video was released for this promotional track. The third single, "Maybe Next May" was released as digital download on July 5. The fourth and final song presented before the album release was "The Architect (Part Two)" which premiered exclusively at Revolver Magazine website on July 12. The new album ''Fragile Figures'' was released in its entirety for streaming on a YouTube playlist on July 17. A music video for "How We Survive" premiered exclusively at Alternative Press website on December 12, 2013. The band then released a music video featuring fan-submitted videos for "Maybe Next May" on April 7, 2014.

Reception

The album received generally favorable reviews from music critics. The vocals delivered by guitarist/singer Richard Rogers and the new vocalist Aaron Melzer are considered the highlight of the album by many critics. David Jeffries comments the vocalist change in his AllMusic review that "there's little doubt that San Diego post-hardcore group Secrets are quite different on their sophomore release, but there's still that same angst and anger driving the lyrics, and the band are as tight as ever." Brian Campbell for Starpulse writes that "Secrets' vocal dynamic has never sounded this crisp, this exciting", and thanks the vocal interplay between the singers for it. Sarah Brehm of

HM Magazine ''HM Magazine'' is a monthly, digital and print on demand publication focusing on hard music and alternative culture of interest to Christians. It is headquartered in Houston, Texas. The magazine states that its goal is to "honestly and accurate ...

opines that the band shines with "Melzer's exceptional screams mixed with both gang and clean vocals". Lærke Fenger in her Rockfreaks review compares the clean punk rock vocals and metalcore breakdowns to the debut album "The Ascent", and states that while the vocal parts didn't seem to integrate on the previous album, the flow is much better on "Fragile Figures". She also maintains that Melzer's vocal quality of growling more often than screaming fits the general song structures well. However, Nathaniel Lay of New Noise is more critical about the change to the new screamer's mostly grumbling vocal style, and claims it "takes quite a while to 'get used to'". He also states that Rogers' "work is still strong, and really helps fuel the songs", but "his parts aren't as catchy or memorable as they were during The Ascent". Also Lærke Fenger complains that "most of the songs on this album blend together in my mind" as they are "so similar in sound and structure". She singles out the album closer "Sleep Well, Darling" as the only stand-out from the album, and claims that the memorable parts of the album are "just Rogers' catchy melodies especially on "Live Together, Die Alone" and "Infinite Escape"". Brian Campbell notes that the band are sonically expanding their horizons on album standouts "The Architect, Part Two" where Melzer handles majority of vocals, and "Sleep Well, Darling" which "showcases a new side to Secrets" and is "the strongest track Secrets has set to wax yet". Also Sarah Brehm comments the final track "Sleep Well, Darling" noting that "while not bad on its own - it doesn't seem to fit the rest of the album".

Track listing

Personnel

;Secrets * Aaron Melzer –

unclean vocals A death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other extreme subgenres of heavy metal music. Death growl vocals are sometimes criticized for their ...

clean vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

"The Architect, Pt. 2" * Richard Rogers –

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

* Michael Sherman –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

* Michael Owens –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

* Joe English –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

;Additional personnel * Adrian Alvarado –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

* Jonny Craig - vocals on "Ready for Repair (Captain Midnite Remix)" * Kyle Lucas - vocals on "Ready for Repair (Captain Midnite Remix)" * Matt Burke – photography *

– engineer, mixing,

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

* Alan Douches – mastering * Kayleigh Kirkpatrick – model * Stephen Marro – additional production, engineer * Aaron Marsh – artwork * Matt Louis - music composition and production * Erik Ron – engineer, vocal producer

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fragile Figures 2013 albums Rise Records albums Secrets (post-hardcore band) albums Albums produced by Tom Denney