Keane: Strangeland

Release Date: May 8, 2012
Genre: Pop

Keane broke into the American music scene with Hopes and Fears in 2004. Songs like "Somewhere Only We Know" and "Everybody's Changing" have been heard in film and television every year since. If you like those songs, and like hearing something just like those songs, then you'll love their latest work, Strangeland. If you were bored after hearing those songs on the radio for all of 2004, then you'll fall asleep 2 tracks into this album.

Most people don't realize that the band has actually been quite prolific in their 12 year career. Their website (www.keanemusic.com) lists 27 releases, including singles and live sessions, and a deluxe version of their breakthrough hit Hopes and Fears. Most of their success has been across the pond in the UK and Europe, but they did manage mild success with Under the Iron Sea in 2006. Tomorrow their next release, Strangeland, hits iTunes and local record stores. It's already been released across most of the globe, and has been selling much better than anticipated.

Strangeland was a bit of a disappointment for me, to be honest. It sounds just like everything else Keane puts out. You can hear the influence of Oasis, and, by extension, The Beatles. The piano driven pop sounds just like any other band in the same genre. In fact, it's even hard for me to distinguish between tracks, because most of them sound exactly the same. After insightful lyrics on Hopes and Fears, I fear the bar was set too high. Keane may in fact be a one trick pony.

I will give them this: they can write lyrics. In "Sovereign Light Cafe," a beautiful picture is painted of life in a small town: "I didn't know I'd be finding out now I was torn from you [...] We were wide eyed dreamers and wiser too." I don't think I'll ever grow tired of their lyrics. And this theme of romantically looking at life before fame seems to run through the whole album. While most of us can't relate to the lifestyles led by one of Britain's biggest acts in the past decade, we can relate to looking back on different (and better) times in our lives. At the end of the day, I'd just rather here someone else singing about it. Or take the distortion off of the piano for one minute. Or do ANYTHING different than the past 4 studio albums have shown us. Oasis didn't gain so much popularity for giving us 20 different versions of (What's the Story) Morning Glory? They kept bringing something new to the table. Keane, when are you going to bring us something new?