Keane

Keane are an English alternative rock band formed in 1995 in Battle, United Kingdom. The group meets at Tonbridge School and builds its early line-up around Tom Chaplin, Tim Rice-Oxley, Richard Hughes and Dominic Scott, with Jesse Quin later joining. The current members are Tom Chaplin, Tim Rice-Oxley, Richard Hughes and Jesse Quin; Dominic Scott, the founding guitarist, leaves in 2001.

Style and lineup

Keane are known for placing keyboards at the centre of their sound rather than using guitar as the main lead instrument. Tim Rice-Oxley plays piano, synthesisers, bass guitar and backing vocals, while Tom Chaplin provides lead vocals and plays electric and acoustic guitar. Richard Hughes plays drums and percussion with backing vocals, and Jesse Quin plays bass guitar, acoustic and electric guitar, and backing vocals.

The band’s sound develops especially on their second and third albums, with distorted piano effects and synthesisers becoming a regular feature. Their broad genre range includes alternative rock, indie pop, piano rock, pop rock, post-britpop and rock.

Albums and recognition

Keane’s debut album, Hopes and Fears, is released in 2004 and brings them mainstream international success. It tops the UK charts, wins the Brit Award for Best British Album in 2005, and becomes the second best-selling British album of 2004. It also becomes one of the best-selling albums in UK chart history.

Their second album, Under the Iron Sea, is released in 2006, reaches number one in the UK album chart and enters the US Billboard 200 at number four. Perfect Symmetry follows in 2008, Night Train in 2010, Strangeland in 2012 and Cause and Effect in 2019. Strangeland also reaches number one in the UK Albums Chart.

In 2008, readers of Q magazine vote both Hopes and Fears and Under the Iron Sea among the best British albums ever, making Keane one of only four artists with two albums in the top 20 in that poll. In 2009, Hopes and Fears is listed as the ninth best-selling album of the 2000s in the UK. The band has sold over 13 million records worldwide.

Later activity

After the release of The Best of Keane in 2013, the band takes a hiatus of nearly five years. It returns with new material and announces Cause and Effect, led by the single “The Way I Feel”. The album is built from songs written by Tim Rice-Oxley during his divorce, and after discussion with Tom Chaplin the band proceeds with recording them. Following the album’s release, Keane tour Europe and Latin America before the rest of the tour is postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The band is associated with Fierce Panda Records, Interscope Records and Island.