Syndicate is a song by

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-based rock band

the Fray The Fray is an American rock band from Denver, Colorado, formed in 2002 by schoolmates Isaac Slade and Joe King. Their debut album, ''How to Save a Life'' released in 2005, was certified double platinum by the RIAA and platinum in Australia, ...

. It is the opening track and the third

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from their eponymous second studio album. It was released on January 12, 2010, for radio airplay, while the music video was released on February 9, 2010. Despite a generally positive critical reception, the song is the lowest charting single from the album.

Critical reception

AbsolutePunk stated the song had "a winning piano line" and commented upon its musical style, saying it "pushed out into a grander, denser sound than found before." Sputnikmusic called it an "uplifting opener."

Music video

The music video, directed by Mark Pellington, premiered on February 9, 2010, on

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. The video is abstract in concept. It makes use of the

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technique: most scenes feature the band members' faces overlapping, rather than showing each of them individually. However, a few scenes do show the band members performing separately. Various miscellaneous objects and people are interspersed in the sequences, while the entire video is set against a glittering blood red and yellow background. This is the second time Pellington is working with the band; he had earlier directed a video for "

How to Save a Life "How to Save a Life" is a song by American alternative rock band The Fray, released in March 2006 as the second single from their debut studio album of the same name. The song is one of the band's most popular airplay songs and peaked in the t ...

" in 2007. The music video uses the "Radio Remix Version" of the song which adds extra vocals towards the end of the song, although the length of the remix is the same as that of the album version.

Chart performance

"Syndicate" debuted at #25 on the

Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...

chart in the week ending January 17, 2010. After a slow climb, it peaked at #16 on the chart 11 weeks later, in the week ending April 11, 2010. The song also charted at #40 on the

Pop Songs Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...

chart (their lowest position on the chart till date); it entered the chart on the week ending March 13, 2010 and dropped out the next week. It became the second single in the band's career to miss the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart (the other being " All at Once").

Chart positions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Syndicate (Song) 2008 songs 2010 singles The Fray songs Epic Records singles Rock ballads Songs written by Joe King (guitarist) Songs written by Isaac Slade Music videos directed by Mark Pellington