Hopes and Fears

Performer: Keane
Producer: Andy Green; Keane; James Sanger
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: This is a DualDisc, which contains a CD on one side of the disc and a DVD on the other. Keane: Tom Chaplin (vocals); Tim Rice-Oxley (piano); Richard Hughes (drums). Often compared to countrymen Coldplay and Radiohead, the UK-based trio Keane plays a similarly majestic, sweeping blend of pop-informed rock music. Fueling the comparisons is the fact that lead vocalist Tom Chaplin makes heavy use of the same kind of Jeff Buckley-esque falsetto and emotion-filled wails favored by Chris Martin and Thom Yorke. On HOPES AND FEARS's epic tracks such as "She Has No Time," however, Keane takes the more dramatic elements of the aforementioned bands' sounds and magnifies them, creating piano- and synthesizer-driven cinematic soundscapes dripping with quiet heartache and existential angst. In addition, Keane incorporates minimalist trip-hop beats, which, in combination with Chaplin's strong pop melodies, evoke a male-led Portishead jamming with the Raspberries. One of the most sonically atmospheric groups of the Britpop scene, Keane ignores the notion of traditional guitar-based rock music in favor of something altogether quieter, yet equally as intense.

Spin (p.100) - "Keane's exceedingly pretty piano-based debut cruises fairly close to Coldplay attitude." Mojo (Publisher) (p.116) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[T]here's plenty to keep the eyes welling up for a good 45 minutes..."

British trio Keane, who trade in the sort of grandiose, melancholy Britpop that was the chief domain of Coldplay for much of the early 2000s, broke big with their 2004 debut album, HOPES AND FEARS. While many hear the band's sound as yet another watered-down version of Radiohead, the guitar-less ensemble's anthems of heartache and self-doubt ring with a buoyancy that calls to mind pop songwriters like Billy Joel and Elton John, thanks in part to the band's infectious piano-based melodies.

Click Here for Shipping Options and Policies

Shipping or Dimension weight in pounds: 0.25