Keane will release its second album Under the Iron Sea on June 12 according to a published report on Billboard.com.
The UK trio released Hopes & Fears in 2004. That album featured a piano-bass-drum-vocal formula to create soaring melodies. It has been certified gold in the US selling more than 855,000. This time out, the band is reportedly adding guitar to the mix.
The complete tracklisting for Under the Iron Sea:
- Atlantic
- Is It Any Wonder?
- Nothing in My Way
- Leaving So Soon?
- A Bad Dream
- Hamburg Song
- Put It Behind You
- The Iron Sea
- Crystal Ball
- Try Again
- Broken Toy
- The Frog Prince
I bought Hopes & Fears after hearing "Somewhere Only We Know" in satanBest Buy. Let me interrupt my train of thought for a moment. I liked the song being played in satanBest Buy and found the album was — wait for it — on sale for the very reasonable price of $8.99. I had never heard of Keane and had only heard "Somewhere Only We Know" on an in-store play. I decided to take a chance because the album was only $8.99. I bought it. I paid for it. With cash money. So let us review: I was able to hear a new song by a new band and found the CD in a store at a reasonable price. Someone ought to try this!
Back to the album... "Somewhere Only We Know" is catchy as hell despite bordering on being overly earnest. It was a perfect single to introduce the band to worldwide audiences. If you hated it, you were going to hate the album. That is not to say the rest of the songs are derivative (although some of them can be) but rather it establishes the framework the rest of the album follows. There are 1,000 reasons to dismiss Hopes & Fears and I have ignored them all.
I am looking forward to hearing Under the Iron Sea.
Article comments
1 - Tan The Man
Good news indeed.
2 - DJRadiohead
I am going to be trying to get a copy of this for reviewage when the notice goes out.
3 - Steve
Hmm, I wasn't missing a guitar in their music in the first place. Hope it doesn't mess with the atmosphere they were able to create on their first album.
4 - DJRadiohead
I don't think they are going to make the guitar a lead instrument but rather something to augment their sound. They have a real talent for hooks. That is what I am looking for on this next disc.
5 - Steve
Do you know if it's gonna be an electric or acoustic guitar?? Usually, when folks say guitar, they tend to mean an electric one.
6 - Annie
The piano player Tim Rice-Oxely plays the bass but it is usually looped into songs electronically. I really doubt they will be adding any guitar sound to this new album other than Tim's bass. FYI Tom, the vocalist also can play the guitar too but no one plays live.
7 - chantal stone
i hope its more acoustic, i love their sound, not sure how i feel about electric.
8 - Steve
I hope you're right, Annie.
I'm with you on that one, Chantal.
9 - Laurin G.
They actually didn't use a guitar at all. Here's a quote from an audio interview with Tim Rice Oxley talking about the guitar sound in the song "Is It Any Wonder"
"I suppose we were sort of hip on the idea of using the piano through loads of vintage effects and trying to make it sound as far from a piano as possible"
They decided in this particular song that a Jimi Hendrix type sound would convey the right emotions they were feeling.
He goes on to say "That was basically my attempt at using a piano to riff off Jimi Hendrix"
And in my opinion, it's a very convincing guitar sound.