Keane (band)

This article is about the British band. For other uses, see Keane (band) (disambiguation).

Keane
Keane Keane Keane, left to right: Tom Chaplin, Tim Rice-Oxley and Richard Hughes
Background information
Origin	Battle, East Sussex
Years active	1997-present
Members	Tim Rice-Oxley Tom Chaplin Richard Hughes
Website	Keane Keaneshaped Keane.at

Keane is an English piano rock and soft ballads band from Battle, East Sussex. They became famous, in part, because unlike most rock bands, they do not use a guitar in their music. However, they do use synthesizers which sound like guitars. Tom Chaplin's soft voice, often used in falsetto has been also a very important feature for the band's success. Keane have often been compared to British band Coldplay, members of whom they met when they were at school.
Their biggest influences include The Beatles, U2, Oasis, R.E.M., Genesis, The Smiths, Radiohead, Queen, The Pet Shop Boys and Paul Simon. Tim Rice-Oxley, composer of the band, declared that he learned to play piano listening to The Beatles. He and Dominic Scott were the main writers of the band's songs on their early years but when Scott left in 2001, Rice-Oxley remained as the main composer since Chaplin and Hughes contributions are minor (vocals and drums). Rice-Oxley credits them on every song, meaning Keane participate in a scheme similar to that of U2, where the money for song credits is shared amongst the members..

History

(1995-1997) Early years

File:Keane2003.jpg

Keane in Battle, East Sussex in 2003

Pianist Tim Rice-Oxley and vocalist/keyboardist Tom Chaplin were childhood friends, as Rice-Oxley's brother, also called Tom, was born in the same hospital on the same day as Chaplin, in March 8 1979. Their mothers became friends and Rice-Oxley became a close friend of Chaplin.

Both attended Vinehall School in Robertsbridge, East Sussex (where Tom's father was the Headmaster for 25 years until 2002) and later Tonbridge School in Kent, where they met the third member of the band, Richard Hughes. The three of them used to play football together and visited a place called "Manser's Shaw" in Battle which later would be and inspiration for Rice-Oxley on the hit single Somewhere Only We Know. Rice-Oxley formed the band in 1995 with his friend Dominic Scott. Chaplin joined the band in 1997, which also marked a change of name from "The Lotus Eaters", to "Cherry Keane", after an older lady whom Rice-Oxley and Chaplin knew when they were young who was also a friend of Chaplin's mother. The name change was because the band realised that the former name had already been taken.

After long discussions between Rice-Oxley and the other members, Chaplin joined as lead vocalist. The "Cherry" part was removed from the name, becoming purely "Keane". For a time it was thought that in an interview with The Irish Times on June 2 2006, Rice-Oxley had explained that the band had originally been named Coldplay. Tim Rice-Oxley declared this was false.However, he was invited to join part of Coldplay but he declined. It was thus ironic that Keane, in 2004, were labelled "Coldplay imitators" by their critics.

Keane began as a four-piece covers band, playing songs by their favourite bands, including U2, Oasis, and The Beatles, but they soon found theirselves wanting to perform material of their own.
Tim Rice-Oxley and Tom Chaplin began composing five or six years before Tim formed the band. One early song composed by Rice-Oxley and Chaplin was called The Silence of an Alien which is believed to had beem composed circa 1991.
In 1996, four songs written by Chaplin and Rice-Oxley were recorded on The Browns Album. This appears on a short on the Strangers DVD. The first Keane songs were composed by Rice-Oxley and Scott and were played in pubs around London, following their debut performance at the "Hope & Anchor" on July 13 1998, where they played Paperback Writer by The Beatles as well as many of their own songs.
During 1998 and 1999 they performed a number of gigs around London where Coldplay used to play also. In February 2000 they released their first single, Call Me What You Like, of which 500 copies were produced at their home and sold at the pubs where they played, and another single, Wolf At The Door, limited to 50 copies, followed a year later. This latter single is Keane's most valued item by fans and copies fetch over £1000. The last available single was auctioned for £620. Scott decided to leave the band in July 2001 due to the limited success that they were having. It was at this time that Rice-Oxley wrote the song Everybody's Changing, about Scott's departure.

Keane were invited in 2002 by record producer James Sanger to his recording studio at Les Essarts, France, where they recorded a number of tracks, including Bedshaped and This Is The Last Time. It was here also where Rice-Oxley composed the song Sunshine.

In December 2002, Simon Williams of Fierce Panda Records was asked by a mutual friend to attend a Keane gig at the Betsey Trotwood in London and was so impressed that he offered to issue the band's next and first commercial single, Everybody's Changing. Steve Lamacq heard the record and placed it as the single of the week on April 19 2003. The CD Single was released on May 12 2003. Shortly after that single was released, the official Keane forum was opened. Even British singer Dido declared herself to be a massive fan of Keane. In August 2006, Everybody's Changing was rated as the #79 on the top 100 songs of all time list by The Sun.

"The band with no guitars"

This is how the media have labelled Keane, as they stand apart from the general rock genre in that none of the band plays the guitar as part of their line-up. Unlike the classic rock instrumentation of two electric guitars, bass and drums, piano rock by its very definition also includes the piano. When Scott departed in July 2001, Keane decided to use the piano not because they couldn't find another guitarist (Chaplin played guitar before too) but because they wanted to change their sound.
Their sound has been highly criticized as the media compared it to English rock band Coldplay's. It is somewhat ironic that Rice-Oxley's piano-based songs were composed even before he met Chris Martin at university.
After gaining critical success however other bands such as Morning Runner have been compared to both Keane and Coldplay for using a piano-oriented sound on their music.

Band leadership

Traditionally, the lead singer or vocalist has been regarded as the band's leader Several media have considered however pianist Rice-Oxley as the leader since he composes all the songs for the band. Concordantly, Rice-Oxley has been interviewed several times rather than Chaplin or Hughes, as the media actually believe he is who can tell more about the group. Tom has always represented the band on the massive media like television, but Tim makes that on a written form or an apparently minor form, having defended the band on several occasions. Rice-Oxley does not considers himself as a rockstar but he thinks Tom does, as refered by Tim on the Hearts of Darkness Q Magazine article. On the Keane's fandom, the three members are considered as equals.

(January 2004-February 2006) Hopes and Fears era

Main article: Hopes and Fears

Keane performing at a concert in the Netherlands, 2004.

In October 2003, the single This Is The Last Time was released in the UK and in the United States. This was the only Keane single ever sold in the United States with about 4000 copies released within the two countries.

After this single, Keane signed to Island and released the single Somewhere Only We Know, which reached number three on the UK Singles Chart in February 2004, a place only reached again by Is It Any Wonder? in 2006. The song has been featured on several TV shows and commercials, for example, TV show Grey's Anatomy as well as the trailer for the movie, The Lake House starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. This single is considered the first one in the "Hopes and Fears era", featuring the "Cochin" typeface, used until late 2005 in almost every Keane release. On May 3, Everybody's Changing was released again but featuring a new cover and b-sides Following the first single's success, their debut album, Hopes and Fears, was released May 10 2004 in the UK, debuting at number one on the UK Albums Chart. The album went on to become the second-biggest selling album of the year in the UK, losing the top spot to Scissor Sisters on the final day of the year by only 502 copies. Their album came out in February. Currently the album has sold approximately five and a half million copies around the world and remained in the top 64 on its 118th week of sale and disappeared from the top 75 on its 119th week.,

The band have become very popular in other European countries like Holland, Austria and Germany. Some Keane releases were only available for these countries, like the single Bend and Break.

The band won two awards at the 2005 Brit Awards — Best British album for Hopes and Fears and the British breakthrough act award, as voted for by listeners of BBC Radio 1. In May 2005, Rice-Oxley received the Ivor Novello award for songwriter of the year.

The band are currently patrons of War Child. In September 2005 they recorded a cover of Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road to Help: a Day in the Life. Keane also did a cover of the Walker Brothers' The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore for the War Child website. The single was only released as a 7" Vinyl and for digital download. However the track was leaked into the Internet in 2005.

File:KeaneMexico.jpg

Promotional poster for Keane's gig at Mexico City in September 27 2005

The band gained some recognition in the United States in Autumn 2005 by opening some shows for U2; onstage they claimed Achtung Baby was one of their biggest influences. At this show, two new songs were played as well as their best-known material. Even celebrities like Danny DeVito have declared themselves as Keane fans. Gwen Stefani also commented on being interested in working with Keane. They were also nominated for a Grammy in the Best New Artist category along with Sugarland, John Legend, Ciara, and Fall Out Boy at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, on February 8 2006. In a decision of some controversy, John Legend received the Grammy, despite the hip-hop artist having already received a Grammy the previous year, arguably negating his status as a "new artist".

(March 2006-present) Under the Iron Sea era

Main article: Under the Iron Sea

Keane began recording for their second album, Under the Iron Sea, in April 2005, with producer Andy Green. Recording took place in Helioscentric Studios, Rye, East Sussex (where Hopes and Fears was recorded) and later in New York City. The band revealed the title of the album on March 14 2006 through a handwritten note from the band posted on their official site. Before the release of the album, Keane described it as "dark" and even Tom Chaplin said in Q Magazine "it's not what people will be expecting".

The first two singles off the album were Atlantic, a download-only music video, and lead single Is It Any Wonder?, released on 29 May 2006, which reached number three on the UK Singles Chart. The album was released June 7 in Japan, June 9 in Netherlands, Germany, Mexico and Switzerland, June 12 in the UK and worldwide and June 202006 in the USA and Canada. The album remained at number one for two weeks on the UK Albums Chart despite new albums arriving. As of August 14 it remains in the top 14 and has sold more than 1,000,000 copies.

The album has received three or four stars out of five on professional reviews worldwide. Several critics describe it as "dark and heavy" and phrases like "the difficult second album". Despite the album is very different to Hopes and Fears, it still has the characteristics that made their debut a huge success. The most recent single from the album was Crystal Ball, released on August 21.

German actor and director Til Schweiger selected Try Again as the main theme for his movie Barfuß. He also offered to shoot a video for the song along with Keane.

In June 29 2006 an article was published about Keane in Q Magazine, called Hearts Of Darkness.
This article talks about Chaplin's supposed indifference about the band, as he wasn't attending the studio recordings and even an alleged alter ego. It also includes the meanings of new Keane songs, mostly referring to the facts mentioned above, as well as the future b-side Maybe I Can Change (referred as Maybe I Could Change) from the recording seasons in New York. Finally the band remains united above all their difficulties. Still unknown is the release of the third single from Under the Iron Sea as well as the beginning of recording of their third studio album. However, Try Again has been thought to be the next single off the album.

It has been rumored that a follow-up to the EP Live Recordings 2004 will be released in early 2007, with live songs from Under the Iron Sea. Tom is currently dealing with an alcohol and cocaine problem at a private clinic in London; this led to the cancellation of three concerts, and the postponement of their North American tour. It's unknown if they will return to live performances in 2006 or 2007.

Controversies and criticism

Note: all information below was found on Keaneshaped FAQ. The links given are where the original data was found

Several media has taken rid of Keane's sudden success since 2004. Many have taken phrases or real facts about the band to transform them on offensive for other people. It's notable than this kind of controversies has lead to many bands to split up in the past.

The Darkness

In 2004, Chaplin stated to a Scottish magazine he did not find classic hard rock band The Darkness as something strong and real but more like a novelty and a joke, which people would be ashamed of have admired in the past when they look back:

(...)I'm not a Darkness fan. I just think that in a few years people will look back and say: "God, do you remember when we loved The Darkness?" and find it embarrassing

The magazine took this seriously and the article was published. Shortly thereafter Frankie Poullain, ex-bassist of The Darkness said to NME "What are those public schoolboys like? We used to call namby-pambys like that bedwetters but now they've taken it to a whole new league!" NME related the facts as a "War of bands" or titles like "Keane vs. The Darkness". They even published comics of Keane confronting The Darkness on illogical stories. Rice-Oxley later posted a message on the Keane Official Forum about The Darkness to clarify Tom's bluntness and was soon published on the NME.

Later, Justin Hawkins (vocalist) said "They didn't insult us anyway. They just didn't like our music and that's fine".

Both bands appeared on Band Aid 20's Do They Know It's Christmas? single.

The Libertines

It was presumed that The Libertines said they came from rough backgrounds, something that Rice-Oxley and Chaplin were supposedly against, saying they knew that The Libertines came from a middle-class family, the same as Keane, and they (Keane) did not have to hide that. Later, Rice-Oxley posted a message on Keane's official forum:

I would like to point out that this is indeed a badly written tabloid story, featuring a variety of inaccurate, out-of-context, misattributed and fictitious quotes. I've never met any of The Libertines and I would never call them 'middle-class liars'. Please ignore this bullshit story and tell any Libertines fans you know to do the same! Merry Christmas all

The Guardian

British magazine and journal The Guardian has often written articles or comments criticising the band. The two most notable articles were as follow:

We're Gonna Make You A Star

Alexis Petridis, British journalist, wrote an article titled We're Gonna Make You A Star in which he chose Keane to illustrate his opinion on how nowadays all rock bands are manufactured and styled. He commented how Keane hired an employee of Moving Brands (Alex Lake) to help them with their releases when he really is a trusted friend of the band. "Today, if you want to make it in rock, you won't get far without building your own brand. Just ask Keane, who hired a consultant before they'd even made a record. But are the UK's finest stylists really capable of successfully turning Alexis Petridis, journalist, into Alexis Petridis, cool and credible singer-songwriter?" Tim posted a letter on the messageboard in order to defend the band:
"(...)Our image, if we have one, has been shaped only by me, Tom and Richard and the songs we write."

Not So Keane Now

Since Tom's problem with drugs, media has taken rid of and leaded to publish articles offending Tom, especially on this one. In August 23 2006 an extremely pointless, offensive and sarcastic article written by Paul MacInnes was published. This article talks about how, from the author's point of view. cocaine used to be cool in the past and now was ruined by Tom Chaplin's fault, refered here as "the rosy-cheeked bloke from Keane":

There was a time when cocaine was the most glamorous substance on earth (...) Right then, there was nothing more decadent, more outré, than clogging your nose with powder derived from the coca plant and cut with any number of household cleaning products. Unfortunately, that time is now over and will never return. And, yes, it's all that rosy-cheeked bloke from Keane's fault

The comment was taken as offensive and the journalist was highly criticised by members of the Keane messageboard.

James Blunt

After Chaplin's commentary about The Darkness being a joke, British songwriter and singer James Blunt was asked about which band he would like to see out of the charts and he responded: "I'm not so Keane to say". However, the comment was taken very seriously for many Keane fans that now dislike Blunt. In the Q Magazine July 2006 issue interview Tom commented: "I have to say we didn't have very much Back to Bedlam on the tour bus" (Blunt's debut album).

Songs

Main article: List of songs by Keane

Keane did not release some early songs from 1990 to 2004 and from all early songs, seventeen are known only by mentions by the band, on fansites and other media.

Six early songs were not released also but they are known from recordings made by the band and posted on their web page in 2000, which were downloaded by fans.

Since 2000, Keane had released 9 singles and 6 had been hit singles all over the world. Most singles were released in CD and 7" Vinyl formats. Fourteen b-sides for these singles were released. Only On A Day Like Today, Allemande and The Iron Sea had appeared both on a CD single and on an album. Six songs from Hopes and Fears weren't released on other formats, as well as ten from Under the Iron Sea.

The Under the Iron Sea DVD revealed ten songs not yet released but planning to be in future singles. Finally, Keane had made ten covers from other artists, no one released except Dinner At Eight (Rufus Wainwright) and The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore (The Walker Brothers).

Worldwide popularity

Touring

Main article: Hopes and Fears Tour

One day after the release of Hopes and Fears (May 11 2004), Keane started a tour beginning at the Forum Theater in London and continuing across Europe and the United States as well as Canada, Japan, Mexico and Australia. After their final gigs at Mexico City, San Diego and Los Angeles, the band travelled to New York in October 2005 for the scheduled opening gigs with U2. Following these, Keane returned to England to start working on their second album.
On August 17 2006, Tom announced that he was suffering from exhaustion as a result of the intensive touring schedule. As a result, the remaining dates were postponed or cancelled. Five days later, Tom declared he was seeking professional treatment for drugs and alcohol. They have announced they will return to live performances soon.

Europe

Main information below is found on Keaneshaped except where noted
Austria
Austria is perhaps one of the most influenced European countries by Keane. One of the biggest Keane fansites (Keane.at) comes from Austria and is considered as the main source of news for Keane fans.
Austria was one of the first countries where Keane's second album was released. However, the album didn't reach the top 1 in this country.
This is also the first European country outside the United Kingdom which Keane visited, on November 14 2003 at Planet Music at Vienna.
Germany
Special edition singles had been made specially for this country. Charts hasn't been so favourable for Keane in this country, with the highest selling single, Somewhere Only We Know reaching top 55. They had performed 25 times in the country, being the most important venues the Rock im Park (June 3 2006) and the Kesselhouse (May 17 2006)
Netherlands
Is one of the few countries where Bend and Break was released (reached top 27). Eight Keane gigs had taken place in Holland.
Switzerland
This is the only country where all Keane records have been released. Keane have visited the country a few times. Four performances had taken place here, two of them at Kaufleuten and Abart Music, both at Zurich

Asia

Japan
Like Coldplay albums, both Keane studio albums had included bonus tracks for Japan. Keane had visited Japan five times.
Thailand
Recently Thailand was the latest country in Asia (and the first outside Japan) that Keane visited. The show called Keane: Under The Iron Sea Live in Bangkok took place at the Impact Arena in Bangkok on August 9 2006. The performance was very well received for many Thai and Asian people who commented through the Keane forums how great the performance was.

America

Argentina
Since the release of Hopes and Fears, Argentina has been home of several Keane fans. Keane releases are very limited there due to political restrictions on importation, and only limited to the standard albums. However, Keane have never visited neither Argentina nor South America.

Mexico
Keane became quite famous in Mexico during July 2004, two months after the release of the album. Keane visited Mexico as a part of the Hopes and Fears promotional tour on September 252004, returning on September 27 2005. Keane however is still unknown by many in the country. This is the only American country where the EP Live Recordings 2004 was released. Recently, Is It Any Wonder was released in Mexico, being the first Keane single to be sold in that country.
The two gigs were performed at Mexico City, firstly at Salón 21 and then at the Auditorio Nacional
United States
Hopes and Fears made famous Keane worldwide, but not the United States. The album reached the top 45 on the Billboard 200, not bad but were still unknown for several people. Trying to gain more fame, Keane toured the United States in summer 2005 (as seen on Strangers) and later, they recorded part of their second album at The Magic Shop Studios in New York City. The release of Under the Iron Sea was well received, reaching the top 4 on the Billboard 200. Keane had decided to tour again in September 2006, with a few gigs around the country. Despite this acceptable chart on the Billboard, Keane still is not very famous there. An example could be taken from the July issue of the Q Magazine. The British (original) edition of the magazine showed Keane on the front cover. However, the American showed James Blunt, who was at the moment more famous than Keane on that side of the world. The United States had hosted 114 Keane performances since 2003, including major cities like New York City and San Francisco.

Equipment list

Template:Sample box start variation 2 Template:Multi-listen start Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen end Template:Sample box end This is a list of Keane's stage and studio equipment. Original data can be found in Keaneshaped

• Main piano:

• Yamaha CP70B Electric piano
• Yamaha CP70M Electric piano

• Synthesizers:

• Rhodes Suitcase Piano
• Nord Lead 3
• Yamaha CP60M

• Bass

• Fender Bass
• Fender Jazz
• Yamaha CP35 Bass synthesizer
• Yamaha DX-7 synthesizer

• Organs:

• Hammond XK2

• Drums:

• Yamaha Maple Custom "Absolute Nouveau"

• Microphones:

• Sennheiser e602s/e604s/e935s/421
• Shure Beta 57/91

• Other equipment:

• Apple PowerBook G4 Titanium for bass tracks.
• Apple PowerMac G5 for live projections

Band members

Current Line-Up

• Tim Rice-Oxley - piano, bass, keyboards, backing vocals (lead vocals from 1995 to 1997)
• Tom Chaplin - vocals, live keyboards, organ (acoustic guitar before 2003)
• Richard Hughes - drums, live backing vocals

Previous Members

• Dominic Scott - electric guitar, keyboard, lead vocals (from 1995 to 1997), backing vocals (from 1997 to 2001)

Discography

Main article: Keane discography

• 1. Hopes and Fears (Album, May 10 2004) #1 UK; #45 US 8x Platinum (UK)
  1. Hopes and Fears
  (Album, May 10 2004)
  #1 UK; #45 US
  8x Platinum (UK)
• 2. Under the Iron Sea (Album, June 12 2006) #1 UK #4 US 2x Platinum (UK)
  2. Under the Iron Sea
  (Album, June 12 2006)
  #1 UK
  #4 US
  2x Platinum (UK)

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Country
2004	Q Magazine	Best Album	England
2004	Premios Onda	Best International Band	Spain
2004	Ivor Novello	Composer of the year (Tim Rice-Oxley)	England
2005	Brit Awards	Best MasterCard Album	United Kingdom
2005	Brit Awards	Best Breakthrough Act	United Kingdom

See also

• A Heart To Hold You, unreleased Keane song
• On A Day Like Today, song from Hopes and Fears
• Rare songs by Keane, a list of some Keane rare and early songs

External links

Official sites

• Keane – Official site
• Keane – Official Myspace profile
• Keane.nl – The Official Dutch site
• The Official Keane Portuguese site – Portuguese site with games, conversations, information, contests and official announcements

Fansites

Europe

• THE Keane fansite – Austrian fansite with the latest Keane news
• Keaneshaped – Chris Flynn British fansite with lyrics, official FAQ, discography and piano/guitar/drums tabs
• Keane.fr – French fansite with gig reviews/interviews in English

America

• Keane MX – Mexican weblog with gig photos and the Atlantic video; news in Spanish.

Asia

• KEANE's hazy day – South Korea including keane's music, news, photo, live video, etc.
• Keane.co.kr – South Korean fansite with photos and news and FAQ in Korean.
• KeaneCn – The only Chinese Keane fansite.

Other

• Artem SFX Studio – How the Is It Any Wonder video was created
• Keane at WikiMusicGuide

References

• Keaneshaped. British fansite. Retrieved June 2006.
• Keane.at. Austrian fansite. Retrieved June 2006.
• NME News. Keane explain their new sound . Retrieved July 17 2006.
• Great Reporter. Keane Man on Success. Retrieved August 11 2006.
• Undercover Music. Keane interview (Sunshine video). Retrieved August 11 2006.
• NME News. The Darkness V Keane - It's War!. Retrieved August 11 2006.
• Contact Music. Keane's Oxley: "Libertines are middle class liars". Retrieved August 11 2006.
• Guardian Unlimited Arts. We're gonna make you a Rock star. Retrieved July 17 2006.
• Apple Music: Keane. Keane Equipment. Retrieved July 17 2006
• SONIKA*. Mexican magazine. Sonika 52: Is It Any Wonder? ¿Será una maravilla? (July 2006). Retrieved August 11 2006.
• SONIKA*. Sonika 53: El triunfo del Indie: Keane (August 2006). Retrieved August 15 2006
• Q Magazine. English magazine, July 2006. Keane: Hearts of Darkness. Retrieved August 11 2006.
• Mixup. Mixup Magazine Mexico. Retrieved August 10 2006.
• eBay. Wolf At The Door. Retrieved August 10 2006.
• The Sun. James Blunt: I'm not so Keane to say!. Retrieved August 11 2006.
• NME. NME Magazine: Gwen Stefani Eyes Up Keane. Retrieved August 11 2006