Strangeland
In the eight years following the release of 2004’s 9 platinum Brit award winning ‘Hopes & Fears’, every Keane album has marked a clear progression from the previous one: the anxious emotional terrain mapped out by ‘Under The Iron Sea’; the iridescent poptimism of ‘Perfect Symmetry’ featuring the electro charged hit song ‘Spiralling’. From here on in, the other decision that Keane quickly came to was that this album would be ready when it was ready. No time-constraints. Once one song was written, it would somehow lay down a series of clues to the next one: the redemptive declamations of ‘Silenced By The Night’; the spirit-swelling ‘Neon River’. And so on, and so on.
“I think I must have had about 100 songs in various forms before we entered the studio,” says Tim. Whittling it down to a shortlist of “about 50” was a process that involved the rest of the band. “I can’t say I envied him,” says Richard, “You’d get this email with no words – just a title in the subject header and an MP3 attached to it. If your reaction was lukewarm, only then would you find out that was the one he’d spent three days writing!” And with that release of pressure, ‘Strangeland’ saw the notion of fun resurface in the shared world of Keane in a way that it hadn’t quite done since the sessions for ‘Hopes & Fears’. Richard casts an eye behind him at the rolling Sussex scenery that encircles the studio Keane have called home for the last few months. “In many respects, it feels like the completion of a circle. On the album you have songs that draw upon the experiences we used to share as kids, growing up in Battle. You can never really go back, of course. We’re married. Some of us have kids. Once in a while though, after a good day, we’ll go to the local pub and talk about everything and nothing until it’s time to go home. Whatever it is that makes us Keane – that invisible glue – is still there. And you can hear it all over ‘Strangeland’.”
