Keane are an English piano rock band, first established in Battle, East Sussex in 1995 and taking their current name in 1997. The group is comprised of composer, bassist and pianist Tim Rice-Oxley, lead vocalist Tom Chaplin and drummer Richard Hughes. Former members include guitarist Dominic Scott, who left in 2001.
Keane are known for using a piano as their lead instrument instead of guitars, significantly differentiating them from most rock bands. The inclusion of a distorted piano since 2006 and various synthesizers is now a common feature in their music that nowadays combines the pure piano rock used during their first album and the alternative rock sound which developed during 2005. Acoustic and power ballads are also often a highlight in the group's music.
Keane's first two studio albums, Hopes and Fears and Under the Iron Sea achieved success in the United Kingdom upon release and very high sales worldwide: their multi-award-winning debut was the best-selling British album of 2004 and their sophomore sold up to 250,000 copies during its first week on sale in June 2006.
Early years and formation
Tom's father was the headmaster of Vinehall School in Robertsbridge (owned by Chaplin's family) for 25 years, the school both Rice-Oxley and Chaplin attended. Both of them later attended Tonbridge School, where they met Richard Hughes, who would later become Keane's third member. The three of them discovered their likeness for music (Rice-Oxley had also learnt to play flute) but none of them had considered it as a proper career, as well as their parents.
While studying at University College, London for a degree in classics in 1995, Rice-Oxley finally managed to form a rock band with his friend and guitarist Dominic Scott (who first offered Rice-Oxley to) and invited Hughes to play drums. The Lotus Eaters started as a cover band, playing songs by the members' favourite bands, including U2, Oasis, and The Beatles, and rehearsing at home. They began being managed by Adam Tudhope whom Rice-Oxley met at University and became friends. Tudhope is also involved in film production through his company, White House Pictures and has contributed to some English films such as Love Actually.
In an interview with The Irish Times on June 2, 2006, Rice-Oxley was quoted as saying that the band had originally been named "Coldplay", but he later denied that he ever made the comment to the interviewer.However, after listening to Rice-Oxley's piano playing during a weekend at Virginia Water in Surrey in 1997, Chris Martin invited him to join the Early Coldplay but Rice-Oxley declined since he didn't want to leave Keane: "I was seriously interested, but Keane were already operational and Coldplay's keyboard player idea was dropped." Although Hughes and Scott were originally opposed to, Chaplin joined the band in 1997, taking Rice-Oxley's place as vocalist and adding himself as the acoustic guitarist. Chaplin's recruitment also marked a change of name from "The Lotus Eaters" to "Cherry Keane", after a friend of Chaplin's mother, whom Rice-Oxley and Chaplin knew when they were young. At her death, she had left money for Chaplin's family. Chaplin "I used some of the money to see me through the harder times with the music." The name was shortened to "Keane" soon afterwards.
Chaplin departed for South Africa in summer 1997, to work as a volunteer during his gap year. This later would be reflected on the band's position for the Make Poverty History campaign due to Chaplin's experience there. Returning a year later on July 3, 1998, Hughes' first words when the band picked up Chaplin at the airport were "we've got a gig in ten days". With original material, Keane made their debut live appearance at the "Hope & Anchor" pub on July 13, 1998. As commented by Rice-Oxley, though the band's music included guitar, their sound was "epic and dreamlike" distinguishing The band from others. After this gig, throughout 1998 and 1999 the band performed on London's pub gig circuit. In 1998, Chaplin went to Edinburgh University to study for a degree in art history. However, he later quit his degree and moved to London, in order to pursue a full-time musical career with his friends.
Early releases and Scott's departure
In late 1999, and without a record deal, Keane recorded their first promotional single, "Call Me What You Like". Released on CD format through Keane's own label, Zoomorphic, it was sold after the gigs at the pubs where Keane used to play during February 2000. Five hundred copies were reportedly sold. but these tracks however can now be found on the internet. The members have declared they are not against fans sharing tracks that are unreleased on CD, such as "More Matey" and "Emily" demo tracks. Chaplin has commented "they most likely see those recordings as an interesting extra to get hold of - I don't see it causing any damage. If it was the album we have coming out leaked Early (Under the Iron Sea) then I'd probably feel differently." The EP was reviewed by Ben Rodwell from eFestivals who listed "Closer Now" as the best song of the record, a song particularly enjoyed by fans today.
Four months after the "Call Me What You Like" re-recording session in February 2001, their second single, "Wolf at the Door" was released. Only fifty hand-made copies are known to have been made, using not-labeled CD-Rs. Both singles are considered highly valuable collectors' items by fans. In particular, "Wolf at the Door" has been known to fetch over £1000 on ebay.
due to the limited success Keane had at this time, Scott decided to leave the group a month after this single was released, in order to continue his studies at the LSE. Before this, in November 2000, Keane were invited by record producer James Sanger to his recording studio at Les Essarts, France, where the band recorded a number of tracks from August to November 2001, including "Bedshaped" and "This Is the Last Time". It was during these sessions that the idea of using a piano as lead instrument began to emerge. Sanger received a shared credit for Four songs that appeared on Keane's debut album Hopes and Fears, including the song "Sunshine", the only one composed there. Sanger has been referred as a key point to shape the Keane's future sound during the Hopes and Fears era. The remaining members of the band returned to England in November 2001. Soon after, they signed to BMG to publish their music but at this time they did not have yet a recording contract. 2002 was a hard year for Keane. All recording or live performances were stopped and Scott's feeling of going nowhere was starting to emerge in Rice-Oxley and Chaplin as they stood at home smoking and listening records. In December 2002, the band returned to performing live. Luckily for The band, one gig, at the Betsey Trotwood in London, was attended by Simon Williams of Fierce Panda Records, the same man that discovered Coldplay years ago. Williams offered to release the first commercial single by the band. This release would be "Everybody’s Changing", which Steve Lamacq went on to name single of the week on Lamacq live on April 19, 2003; the CD Single was released on May 12, 2003. As a result of the attention created by this release, a bidding war for the band ensued between major labels, with the band deciding to sign with Island Records in summer 2003.
After signing with Island, the band released "This Is the Last Time" on Fierce Panda in October 2003 as the final release on that label. Soon after, Keane's official messageboard and first fansites were opened. Hopes and Fears
With the release of their first major single, Keane began to achieve recognition in the United Kingdom and the United States, where "This Is the Last time" was released and remained as the only single sold there until "Crystal Ball" in late 2006. In January 2004, Keane was named the band most likely to achieve success in the coming year in the BBC's annual Sound of Music poll; additionally, this year is popularly referred to as one of the best years for new British music.
A month later, Keane's first release on Island was "Somewhere Only We Know", which reached number three on the UK Singles Chart in February 2004. On May 3, a re-release of "Everybody’s Changing" followed and featured new cover and b-sides; it reached number Four in the UK singles Chart.
Keane's debut album, Hopes and Fears, was released on May 10, 2004 in the UK, just a day before starting their first world tour. It debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and went on to become the second-biggest selling album of the year in the UK, only losing the top spot to Scissor Sisters on the last day of the year.
The album has sold approximately five and a half million copies worldwide. In the UK, it stayed in the top 75 of the UK Albums Chart for 72 weeks, appearing again on its 115th week.
the band won two awards at the 2005 BRIT Awards in February; best British album for Hopes and Fears and the British breakthrough act award, as voted for by listeners of BBC Radio 1, defeating bands such as Muse or Franz Ferdinand. Three months after, Rice-Oxley received the Ivor Novello award for songwriter of the year.
As members of the Make Poverty History foundation, Keane performed "Somewhere Only We Know" and "Bedshaped" at the live 8 concert, which took place in London on July 2, 2005. Keane are also patrons of War Child, and in September 2005, they recorded a cover version of Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" to the charity album Help: a Day in the Life. Previously, the band also had recorded a cover of the Walker Brothers' "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore", which was available as a download-only track from the war Child website. It was later released as a 7" single as a gift to members of the Keane e-mailing list.[20]
As the 1985 version, Band Aid (now called Band Aid 20) recorded a new version of "Do They Know It's Christmas?". Rice-Oxley and Chaplin both contributed vocals.
During the year, the band achieved minor recognition in the United States due to their extensive touring, which culminated with a series of gigs as the opening act for U2. The group were also nominated for a Grammy in the best New Artist category along with Sugarland, John Legend, Ciara, and Fall Out Boy, but ultimately lost out to Legend. Under the Iron Sea
In April 2005 and in the middle of the Hopes and Fears Tour, the band began recording their second album, Under the Iron Sea with producer Andy Green — who also worked with them previously on Hopes and Fears — , and later recruiting Mark "Spike" Stent for mixing duties. Recording took place in Helioscentric Studios, Rye, East Sussex —where Hopes and Fears was recorded — and later at The Magic Shop Studios in New York City. the band revealed the title of the album on March 14, 2006 by posting a handwritten note on its official website. Drawing style differences from the previous album, Under the Iron Sea, taking its name from the eight track and third single "Crystal Ball" — and referring to Rice-Oxley's feelings about the future of the band, and its relationship with Chaplin — , was made following a fairytale style, notable on the box of the CD+DVD version, with drawings representing every song on the album; this has been commented by the band as a "sinister fairytale-world-gone-wrong".
The album's release was preceded by the release of "Atlantic", a download-only music video, and lead single "Is It Any Wonder?" — released on May 29, 2006 — which reached number three on the UK Singles Chart. The album had a worldwide release date of June 12, 2006 (see the album's article for exceptions), and was at number 1 in the UK Albums Chart for the first two weeks of its release. As of October 3, 2006, it has sold more than 1,600,000 copies. The album has met with critical acclaim, with press referring to it as "dark and heavy", and commenting that it May attract a new, wider audience.
The third single from the album was Crystal Ball, with Chaplin describing it as "one the catchiest and memorable songs on the record". The single was released on August 21, 2006, reaching number 20 in the UK singles charts.
Even before the release of the album (on May 2006), Keane had started their second world tour that would promote the album. However, due to the extensive touring, on August 22, 2006, Chaplin announced he had admitted himself to a clinic for drink and drug problems. This initially resulted in the cancellation of three gigs and postponement of their September US tour. The entire North American tour was later cancelled outright to allow continued treatment. As a result of this, the upcoming UK and European tours - scheduled for October and November 2006 - were considered to be liable for possible postponement depending on Chaplin's treatment. Chaplin left the Priory Clinic in London on October 6, but to date he is still receiving treatment.
In Early October, Concert Live announced they were releasing a limited edition 10-CD set (1000 per concert) of every Keane live performance during 2006 in the UK under the name Keane Live 06; this would mean Keane had returned to live performances even though Chaplin had been warned of this.
The fourth single from Under the Iron Sea was "Nothing in My Way", released on October 30, 2006, which received particular success in Mexico commercial radio, charting on Top 3 in January 13, 2007 and staying a month on that chart.
In late October 2006, Rice-Oxley collaborated with Gwen Stefani as a co-writer of the song "Early Winter", that appears on her sophomore album, The Sweet Escape, as well as two more tracks. According to fansite Keane.at he contributed on keyboards and piano duties. Stefani had been wishing to work with the band since 2005; Rice Oxley's response came into reality: "we might give her a go".
Similar to the previous album, some songs have yet appeared on the media; "Is It Any Wonder?" appeared on the Madden 2007 soundtrack; "Nothing in My Way" on the soundtrack to the FIFA 07 football video game and "A Bad Dream" was featured in the season 4 premiere of The OC (it plays when summer tells Seth she is leaving Newport). Additionally, the ballad "Try Again" was selected by German producer Til Schweiger to be the main theme of his new film One Way, and the song was released as the fifth single off the album, only in Germany, similar to "Bend and Break".
Eight live recordings of the band's songs (the other nine albums have six tops) were included in the series of Live EPs from iTunes, Live From London.
A confirmed rumour was that "A Bad Dream", considered a fan favourite and referred to by Chaplin as "the best song we've ever written", was the follow-up sixth and possibly last single, released on January 22, 2007.
Following the success of the UK Under the Iron Sea Tour in late 2006, the band announced another string of dates for February and March 2007. This tour would visit all of the United Kingdom's major indoor arenas, with two nights at the symbolic Wembley. This leg of the tour saw the band incorporate a b-stage in the middle of the crowd where a brief acoustic set was performed. This idea has been used by The Rolling Stones for the last decade. The tour will reach for the first time South American countries (Argentina, Chile and Brazil) and will see the band's third visit to Mexico in late April with Four dates, playing at the downtown Zócalo Mexico City, Monterrey and the first visit to Guadalajara.
Keane have been confirmed as one of the bands playing in the Live Earth concerts on July 7, 2007, a series of gigs similar to Live 8 to stop global warming.
Third studio album
the band have not confirmed the production yet of their next studio album but this has been suggested several times by The band.A lot of names have been given to the album, the last was Flower's Dept.. According to Chaplin, they have written in the order of fifteen new songs, which would suggest the compilation of a third album.
Since October 2006's UK tour, Chaplin has also played acoustic guitar during gigs, particularly during "Your Eyes Open" which was performed in an acoustic set-up. For the band's Christmas in-Store gig at the Apple Store on December 12, 2006, this was expanded to include the songs "A Bad Dream" and "Is It Any Wonder?". During this performance, Rice-Oxley also played a bass guitar live to accompany "This Is the Last Time", while Chaplin took the lead performing a new piano arrangement of the song on the CP-70. The introduction of these instruments and new arrangements suggests that they May become a more permanent fixture during live sets in future.
In addition, during a live performance on February 22, 2007, Chaplin played acoustic guitar now adding "Broken Toy", feature not regarded on Keane since 2001. Chaplin joked that "we are slowly caving in on the subject of guitars and by our next album we will probably sound like Def Leppard!". Chaplin also thanked the rest of the band for standing by him during his "difficult" 2006 year and that they are very much back together as friends; this would mean The band is in good terms for the year and the inclusion of guitar in the band again.
In a March 2007 video interview. Chaplin and Hughes spoke of wanting to take a more "organic" approach on album three, but played down guitar suggestions, referring to it as "a fun part of the live set" at present; however, after "She Sells Sanctuary", it remains uncertain the adding of this instrument as being the first song recorded since "The Happy Soldier" (2001) including it.
Musical style and themes
Tim Rice-Oxley and Dominic Scott were the main writers of the band's songs during their Early years. When Scott left in 2001, Rice-Oxley became the main composer. However, Rice-Oxley credits the rest of the band on all compositions, so that royalties for song credits are shared.
Keane have cited bands such as The Beatles, U2, Oasis, R.E.M., The Smiths, Radiohead, Queen, Pet Shop Boys and Paul Simon as influences.the band has been known as "The band with no guitars", due to its heavily piano-based sound. By using delay and distortion effects on their piano sound, they often create sounds that aren't immediately recognisable as piano. Rice-Oxley said during an interview in Los Angeles that they tend to think piano-related music is boring and what they really wanted to do was try something different. He referred to the piano as an odd instrument to form part of a rock band instrumentation, comparing it to The Beatles' set of instruments. Rice-Oxley's referred above distortion piano has set most of Keane's multifacetic style, varying from hip-hop on "Dirtylicious" to house on "Tyderian".
During their Early years, lyrically, most songs were about Love or broken relationships (most notably "She Has No Time" and "On a Day Like Today"). However, other themes - including the relationship between Rice-Oxley and Chaplin - have emerged in more recent compositions. B-side "Maybe I Can Change" - composed by Chaplin - gives his side of the story with the lyrics "...but still somehow I have to say I'm on my way gone". Other themes have been explored; for example "Is It Any Wonder?" and "A Bad Dream" are both about war.
Criticism
due to the piano-based music and the alternative sound of the debut album, critics first regarded Keane as Coldplay imitators; the media supporting Keane, however, started calling it the "new Coldplay" as a reference to the success they were having. Newer bands such as Morning Runner have been compared to both Keane and Coldplay for the piano-oriented sound of their music.
Critics, especially from The Guardian, have attacked the band with tabloid stories like the supposedly styled image Keane had. Notable feuds with other artists were held with The Darkness, The Libertines, James Blunt and Oasis; Noel Gallagher famously dismissed them saying "Traditionally speaking, the three biggest twats in any band are the singer, the keyboardist and the drummer. I don't need to say anything else." Rice-Oxley responded however saying that Oasis have had their time but Keane are better now.
live and studio instrumentation
After Scott departed, Rice-Oxley started using a Yamaha CP-70 piano, a quality instrument especially designed for touring that he read about on a Beatles book written by their manager, George Martin. A Nord lead 3 synthesizer is currently used to play solos and located during the gigs on the top of the main piano. Main instrumentation includes:
Rice-Oxley's PowerBook G4 is used to play back pre-recorded bass tracks during live performances. The computer software includes an electronic click-track transmitted wirelessly to the three members' Sennheiser earphones to aid accurate playback. It also controls the extra synthesizer sections that would be impossible to play live with the current line-up. In October 2004, when "Hamburg Song" and "Nothing in My Way" debuted, Chaplin played a Hammond MK2 organ, having played no instrument in the live band since 2001. Following this, in 2006 he started to play a distorted CP60 (an upright version of the Yamaha CP70) for some songs like "The Frog Prince" and "Crystal Ball". Recently they have been using a Yamaha S90ES for their on stage piano and Rhodes sounds.
Members
Former members
Discography
; "Keane")
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