Keane
Night train

The Keane are a strange group.

Their extremely successful career (millions of records sold) is the result of a quarrel with guitarist Dominic Scott who, tired of waiting for a success that never came, left the band leaving them in trouble, as well as Tim's refusal to join Coldplay. (It was Chris Martin who offered it to him).

Tim and Tom, childhood friends, did not lose heart and decided to make the piano the leading instrument of their sound by doing without Scott's guitar. "Hope and Fears" is a debut with a bang, over 5 million copies sold and number 1 on the UK Chart, with the very famous hit “Everybody's Changin” making them famous, but it also contains “Somewhere Only Knows” and “This Is The Last Time”. All their tours sell out in a matter of days.

Keane is now a band of global prominence, the subsequent album “Under The Iron Sea” may not have the immediacy of “Hope and Fears” but upon closer listen, it also offers great songs like “Is It Any Wonder”, the beautiful “Atlantic” which opens the CD, and “Cristall Ball” which seems to narrate the brotherly friendship between Tim and Tom. “Under The Iron Sea” goes straight to no. 1 on the UK Chart, and stays there for two weeks, a very rare feat in England, also selling millions of copies.

The following album “Perfect Simmetry” radically changes their sound, featuring songs with their trademark “The Lovers Are Losing”, “Again and Again” but also “Spiralling” and the stunning title track, an album in which, in my opinion, they are exploring different paths “Better Than This” is a ska, “Pretend That You're Alone” is a decent funky with disco guitars. In short, a step forward in the search for their sound, the album of their turning point.

Keane's latest effort is the EP disc “Night Train” (which is quite an EP with 8 tracks!): it starts with “House Light” an instrumental piece with electronic drums and synthesizer, and they continue in this direction, with percussion and synthesizers “Back in Time”, “Stop for a Minute” is a splendid hit featuring K'naan, Keane continues down the path of renewal started with “Perfect Simmetry”, without losing the prerogative of creating fascinating melodies that stick in your head and stay there. Maybe, like it happened to me, this album doesn't grab you at first listen, but then you discover that it is a fresh, pleasant record that flows quickly in the player.

A personal consideration: I've put the mp3s of all the albums in my car, excluding this one, and even if I wanted to, I can't find a bad song. Maybe they are like the Beatles, genetically incapable of writing bad songs. In conclusion, another hit by Keane with an album where they definitely veer towards an electronic pop rock adding another piece to their sound. I find them the best reality of the so-called British pop English. (On par with Coldplay).

Not a landmark of pop, but definitely an album to listen to with pleasure.

Just for a change, they were number 1 in the UK.

Until next time.