Let’s take a walk Somewhere Only We Know? Maybe to the Sovereign Light Café? Maybe we can Try Again to live this life in Perfect Symmetry and get through these Phases.
Keane’s journey started in 1995 when keyboardist Tim Rice-Oxley formed a band with Dominic Scott and Richard Hughes named The Lotus Eaters performing covers. In 1997, Chris Martin invited Rice-Oxley to join Coldplay, but Tim declined. This offering led Tom Chaplin to join, renaming the band to Cherry Keane after a friend of his mother, later shortened. After the limited success of their CD singles, Dominic departed, pursuing his studies at the London School of Economics and Politics. In 2002, Keane returned to playing live. Attending one gig was Coldplay founder Simon Williams. The band were offered to release their first commercial single Everybody’s Changing to great reception. Growing in popularity with a strong tour presence, Keane were signed to Island Records in 2003. February of the next year saw the release of the single Somewhere Only We Know which would peak at No.3 in the UK Singles Chart. A few months later, their debut album Hopes & Fears was released and peaked at No.1 in the UK Albums Chart and has, to date, been certified 9x Platinum.
With the band gaining popularity, they supported U2 on tour worldwide. Halfway through touring, the lead single from the next album, Is It Any Wonder? reached No.3 in the UK Singles Chart. Under The Iron Sea then had a global release in June reaching No.1 in the UK Albums Chart for two weeks. A month before the full release of Under The Iron Sea, the band had started their second world tour. This would be cut short just after Crystal Ball’s single release as Chaplin announced that he had admitted himself to a clinic due to having problems with drinking and drugs. This led him to fly home unannounced, and the US leg of the tour cancelled with the UK and Europe legs having a possible postponement. In 2008, Under The Iron Sea was voted the 8th best British album of all time by HMV and Q Magazine.
Their third album, Perfect Symmetry, saw Jesse Quin permanently become part of the band, playing the bass, synth and guitar. In October 2008, the album was released reaching No.1 on the UK Albums Chart a week later, leading to a tour next month. The band was also the first ever to broadcast a live 3D concert, urging fans to buy a pair of 3D glasses with the vinyl release of Better Than This.
Collaborations
Mid-2010 saw the release of the extended play Night Train. It contained the band’s first mainstream collaborations, with rapper K’NAAN (on Looking Back and Stop For A Minute) and Japanese funk artist Tigarah on a cover song. It saw the first song to be released featuring lead vocals from keyboardist Tim Rice-Oxley (Your Love).
Strangeland, Hiatus and Solo Work
Keane started recording Strangeland in mid-2011. Recording concluded in January 2012 at the band’s own studio, Sea Fog Studios in Polegate. The Strangeland Tour started in March 2012 at the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-On-Sea, fitting with the album’s theme of Bexhill, Hastings, Eastbourne and Battle. The lead single Silenced By The Night was released worldwide in March 2012 peaking globally at No.6 on the US Triple A Billboard charts.
Sovereign Light Café’s video was filmed along Bexhill-On-Sea’s promenade, showing Chaplin leading a marching band to the Sovereign Light Café while passing cyclists, gymnasts and other performers. The lyrics mention a few familiar places to Bexhill-dwellers, including Powdermill Lane and Marley Lane. Strangeland was criticised for being “fairly back in the middle of the road” (-Virgin Media). After the tour leading Strangeland’s release, the band released a best-of album before going on hiatus. Several publications stated that the band members had “split to pursue their own projects”, though a day later Chaplin confirmed the band members were “taking a break from being Keane”.
During the band’s hiatus, Chaplin released two solo albums: The Wave and Twelve Tales of Christmas, the latter consisting of eight original tracks and four covers. Quin and Rice-Oxley continued work on Mt. Desolation, releasing a second album, When The Night Calls in 2018 followed by a short tour. In late 2016, the band composed “Tear Up This Town” for the movie A Monster Calls. Lily Allen covered Somewhere Only We Know in 2013 for John Lewis’ Christmas advert In late 2018, cryptic images and secrets were being posted to their social media pages, hinting at a reformation. The Sun confirmed that the band were getting back together in early 2019 after “putting aside their differences”. Soon after, Keane announced they would be playing at a variety of festivals in Europe and the UK, and later confirmed a new album would be released later that year.
Reformation, Cause & Effect and Dirt EP
In Mid-2019, the lead single from the new album, The Way I Feel, was released. At the end of July, it was announced that the quartet would take part in a co-headline tour with band Travis in South America before the second single, Love Too Much, was released. The whole album, Cause & Effect, was released on September 20th. The band performed a homecoming album-release concert at the De La Warr Pavilion on release day starting the tour. In 2021, the band announced they would be participating in World Record Store Day releasing an EP with four unused songs and demos from Cause & Effect titled Dirt EP. It released on streaming services later that year. On September 4, 2022, Chaplin released a third solo album, titled Midpoint with a short UK tour starting in October of the same year.
