To celebrate ten incredible years of success, Keane will release ‘The Best Of Keane’ on 11th November 2013, through Island Records.
The album features 18 fan favourites, plucked from the band’s five consecutive UK Number One albums, alongside two powerful new songs, ‘Higher Than The Sun’ and ‘Won’t Be Broken’. The Deluxe version of the album will also include a collection of the band’s exceptionally strong B-sides. The super deluxe edition contains the two discs from the deluxe edition (The Best Of and B-sides) and an exclusive DVD of a special acoustic set, for which the setlist will be chosen by Keane fans.
“It’s over a decade ago that we were busy making our first record ’Hopes & Fears’. Having got together in the mid 90s, things took a while to get going for us as a band, but once they did, it became an incredible ride! We've had 5 consecutive number 1 albums, toured the world countless times and experienced some very heady days. We wanted to put something out there to mark this milestone, to say thank you to all our fans and to try and send you all on a journey through the songs which we're most proud of.
"Listening through this ‘Best Of’, I feel like we given a pretty good account of ourselves over the years. We hope you agree!” (Tom Chaplin)
Since their beginnings as school friends in Battle, East Sussex, Keane have gone on to sell over 11 million albums; won 2 Brit Awards, 4 Q Awards and an Ivor Novello and captured the hearts of a truly global fan base having played over 700 shows in over 40 countries worldwide. In May 2008, both 'Hopes and Fears' and 'Under the Iron Sea' were voted by readers of Q magazine as the best British albums ever; Keane, The Beatles, Oasis and Radiohead were the only musical acts having two albums in the top 20. Earlier this year, their 2004 debut album, 'Hopes And Fears', was voted the second favourite album of all-time by Radio 2 listeners.
Throughout their career, Keane have continually embraced technology, becoming the first band to release music on USB sticks and the first to stream a live performance in 3D. They’ve also collaborated with everyone from Irvine Welsh to Bret Easton Ellis to Lily Allen to William Boyd and most recently J.A Bayona and Sergio G Sanchez.
The band’s friend, comedian Peter Kay, had this to say about the album: “Keane have always had the rare ability to produce songs that feel and sound as if we’ve known them all of our lives (so just imagine how good this ‘best of’ is going to be), nothing but wall to wall brilliance that you already know or at least feel you do. First and foremost, I was a fan, being fortunate to see them play live many times over the last ten years (yes ten years!! Where did that go?) and continually they astonish at how much they give. Playing each and every time as if their lives depended on it. If you’ve never seen them live, I urge you to please make the effort. Trust me, it’ll stay with you forever.
Simply, they’re four funny, generous and extremely grounded blokes who still can’t believe their luck and who continually strive for brilliance, but now a decade in it’s time for us to take stock and celebrate just how much their music has shadowed and enriched our daily lives. Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, I give you, the wondrous Keane.”
Published on 16 August 2013 by Ben Robinson
