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Keane 'Hopes And Fears'

added 10 August 2004 at 11.25

The music business is rife with hyperbole. Everybody knows this. It's never enough for a band to be competent, they have to be 'awesomely accomplished', no song is merely pleasant, it's 'heartbreakingly beautiful'. Sometimes it feels like no sooner have a few notes been recorded than everyone's falling over themselves to either instantly canonise or write-off the authors.

So you'd be forgiven for reaching for your salt shaker when all the loose talk about Keane being one of the greatest British band to emerge in the last ten years begin. You'll have to wae through all the usual inflated statements, feverish gibberings and wildly overblown metaphors. The difference is that this time round it's all true. We promise.

You'll have heard 'Everybody's Changing' by now, even amongst the demanding company of the Xfm Playlist it stands out as a thing of rare beauty - Tom Chaplin's voice strikes the perfect balance between strength and fragility while Tim Rice-Oxley's piano (Keane don't use guitars) elevates the track to the kind of heights other bands need a brace of Moogs to reach. The rest of the album maintains the quality without repeating itself - 'Can't Stop Now', 'This Is The Last Time' and first single 'Somewhere Only We Know' all walk the same impressively fine line between balladry and bombast in their own way. These are songs that will strike chord after chord in your mind. And then stay with you.

We could go on but you'd never believe us. Hear 'Hopes And Fears' for yourself right here and find out why Chris Martin can't sleep at night.

Tagged as Keane, archive

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