Keane is an English piano rock band, first established in Battle, East Sussex in 1995, taking their current name in 1997. The group is comprised of composer, bassist, and pianist
Tim Rice-Oxley (1), lead vocalist
Tom Chaplin and drummer
Richard Hughes. Their original line-up included founder and guitarist
Dominic Scott, who left in 2001. On their current tour,and for their 2008 album 'Perfect Symmetry', Jesse Quin is joining the band on stage to play bass, as a substitute for the previously-used laptop. He also played a large role in recording the album itself.
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Keane are known for using a piano as their lead instrument instead of guitars, significantly differentiating them from most rock bands. The inclusion of a distorted piano effect since 2006 and various synthesizers are now a common feature in their music that nowadays combines the pure piano rock sound used during their first album and the alternative rock sound which developed during 2005. Acoustic and power ballads are also a highlight in the group's music and have evolved into many fan favourite songs such as "On a Day Like Today" and "We Might As Well Be Strangers".
Keane's first two studio albums,
Hopes And Fears and
Under the Iron Sea, achieved great success in the United Kingdom upon release and very high sales worldwide: their multi-award-winning debut was the best-selling British album of 2004 and their follow-up sold 222,297 copies during its first week on sale in June 2006.
Their new album,
Perfect Symmetry was released on 13th October 2008. First single 'Spiralling' was available for free download, and half a million copies were downloaded worldwide. The album has clear 80s influences, and is compared in Q magazine to both David Bowie's 'Scary Monsters' and The Dandy Warhols' 'Welcome To The Monkey House'. The band have cited Talking Heads as another key influence. This is their first album to include guitar, successfully breaking away from their original set-up.
