Keane Biography

Keane is a rock band from Battle, East Sussex, in South East England. The current members are Tim Rice-Oxley (composer, writer and pianist), Tom Chaplin (lead vocals and organ), and Richard Hughes (percussion). Former members include guitarist, Dominic Scott, who left in 2001. They are known for using a piano as their lead instrument instead of using guitars, unlike most rock bands. However, they do make use of effects pedals and synthesizers, giving them a wide range of sounds not limited to traditional piano tones. Tom Chaplin's vocals, which often make use of falsetto, are also considered to be a notable part of the band's style.

Their first two studio albums, Hopes and Fears and Under the Iron Sea achieved number one status in the United Kingdom upon release and have achieved very high sales worldwide, notably in Europe. Keane are managed by Adam Tudhope, who is also involved in film production through his company, White House Pictures and has contributed to some British films such as Love Actually. He was friends with Rice-Oxley at college.

Due to the piano-based music and the alternative sound of their debut album, critics first regarded Keane as Coldplay imitators; the media supporting Keane, however, started calling them the "new Coldplay" as a reference to the success they were having. Other bands such as Morning Runner have been now compared to both Keane and Coldplay for the piano-oriented sound of their music. Critics, especially from The Guardian had attacked them with tabloid stories like the supposedly styled image they had.

Tim Rice-Oxley and Dominic Scott were the main writers of the band's songs during their early years. When Scott left in 2001, Rice-Oxley became the main composer. However, Rice-Oxley credits the rest of the band on all compositions, so that royalties for song credits are shared.

Keane have cited bands such as The Beatles, U2, Oasis, R.E.M., The Smiths, Radiohead, Queen, Pet Shop Boys and Paul Simon as influences. Keane have been known as "the band with no guitars", due to their heavily piano-based sound. By using delay and distortion effects on their piano sound, they often create sounds that aren't immediately recognisable as piano.Rice-Oxley said during an interview in Los Angeles that they tend to think piano-related music is boring and what they really wanted to do was trying something different. He referred to the piano as an odd instrument to form part of a rock band instrumentation, comparing it to the sitar used on The Beatles' "Within You Without You". During their early years, lyrically, most songs were about love (most notably "She Has No Time" and "On A Day Like Today"). However, other themes - including the relationship between Rice-Oxley and Chaplin - have emerged in more recent compositions.. B-side "Maybe I Can Change" - composed by Chaplin - gives his side of the story with the lyrics "...but still somehow I have to say I'm on my way gone". Other themes have been explored; for example "Is It Any Wonder?" and "A Bad Dream" are both about war.