Keane – Hopes And Fears
A few months back I read on article on this band and afterwards wanted to hear something of theirs immediately. I found this sample of Somewhere Only We Know and upon listening to it I thought to myself, “This is some repetitive crap.” It was onlylater that I discovered that I had inadvertently downloadea looped sample of the song, which repeated the first verse over and over and over again for four minutes. Listening tothat was grueling, unlike listening to this album. Behind each Keane song lurks someone with a comprehensive understanding of pop. Songs like We Might As Well Be Strangers and Bedshaped deliver confident high-romantic stirrings, yet, for them consistencyis not always manageable. In some songs the sound is incomplete,which may have to do with the lack of instruments; Keane consists of a singer, a pianist, and a drummer. The productionof the album really hurts some songs since the singer’s voiceis so much louder than everything else, and everything elseis few in number. It’s not that Tom Chaplin has a bad voice,it’s just not that interesting. Keane’s strength is found in the pulsating throng of piano provided by Tim Rice Oxley,the band’s sole songsmith. Oxley knows his way around a goodtune, unfortunately it is Chaplin’s voice that drowns outthe directions. Since it is Oxley-not Chaplin-that producesthe material-writes all the lyrics and music-perhaps something is lost in Chaplin’s interpretations. It is almost like Oxley is Cyrano de Bergerac and Chaplin is stealing his words andconsequently fumbling them up. The song She Has No Time is such an average Coldplay song that it almost hurts and the fact that Coldplay did not write it only makesmatters worse. Imagine a Coldplay that lacked Chris Martin’scharisma and had no guitars-this is Keane. Yes, Keane can write some very good pop, but they can also write rubbish like Your Eyes Open, She Has No Time, Can’t Stop Now, and Sunshine.There are six good songs and four bad ones, which makes my job very easy. Keane’s “Hopes And Fears” gets a six out of ten.This may seem like a low score, but it is important to notethat on songs where they get things right, like Everybody’s Changing and Bend And Break, and This Is The Last Time, they do so with an abundance of swagger. In fact, those songs may end up being some of the finest inoffensive “parent rock” that will be released this year. By “parent rock” I mean music you can play in front of your folk s and they will find it agreeable to their own musical taste. To beclassified as such is not necessarily a bad thing, unless youare more concerned with immediate relevance and do not want longevous significance. Their next album will either secure a place amongst the Britpop elite or force them to disappear.Time will tell.
By John Mac
