Interview with Keane

Keane’s first two albums of piano-driven rock may have sold eight million copies, but that hasn’t stopped the band from shaking things up on their third outing Perfect Symmetry, an album which sees the band embracing new styles, new instruments, and a resulting new sound that left some fans wondering “is that really Keane or did I pick up the wrong album by accident?” when they first listened to it.



I spoke with founding member Tim Rice-Oxley a few days before Perfect Symmetry debuted at number one on the UK iTunes chart, and he assured me that despite the sonic evolution, it’s still very much Keane music beneath it all. Then again, he did tell me that the spirit of making the album was that if it feels “wrong, then let’s do it.” 



Why take the risk now of creating something that’s so different from what your fans are already used to?

We grew up loving bands who kind of evolved from record to record and that’s part of their ethos. I guess, you know, people like Radiohead and well, even the Beatles I suppose are the classic example. Radiohead, Bowie, Talking Heads, U2. It’s just very important for us. We always wanted to do that as a band, and I always feel disappointed when bands that I love don’t ever change. But yeah I’m really proud of the fact that we’ve done that, and I think that people are hungry for fresh music and fresh sound. And it’s always exciting, I think, when you hear a band having fun creatively. And I think, well I’m absolutely certain that this sort of basic kind of Keane elements are still there and stronger than ever before. Cause as a songwriter I feel, you know, these are definitely the best songs that I’ve ever written. So I’m very proud of the fact that we’ve managed to combine, you know, my best songwriting with a kind of sense of sonic innovation.

Talk to me about some of the more unusual things you tried during the recording process. I’ve heard there was a musical saw involved and different things like that.

Yeah, well I mean the musical saw is a good example, a weird thing that we just, I just had that idea from watching, a couple years ago I was watching this film called Delicatessen. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen it, it’s a French film, it’s a very strange film. But anyway there was this great bit where there was this sort of cello and musical saw duet, and it’s absolutely beautiful, this sort of haunting sound. When we came to record Love is The End, I just thought wow, I wonder if we could find someone who plays the musical saw. And sure enough it sounded amazing. And you know, same with there’s some saxophone, which Tom has always swore was, you know, the devil’s instrument and would never feature on a Keane record. But we just kind of almost, I just thought you know, I really feel like this song could do a sax solo, and the spirit of the making of this record was so kind of, we had so much of a sense of well, you know, if it feels, like wrong, then let’s do it, you know what I mean?

And it’s such a fun way of working, cause you push yourself to do all these new things, like the “whoos” on Spiralling, and you know all these weird things that sound completely alien when you suggest them. And then you try them and it’s the best thing you do on that song. So yeah, you know, we had a great time with a lot of sort of African percussion and a lot of, you know, masked backing vocals and, you know, strings and saxophones, the musical saw, and all this stuff we’d never done before. And it’s much less, much less kind of piano-based, much more rhythmical and danceable as well. So it’s kind of, yeah, we had a lot of fun just trying new things.

You’ve long been known as having no guitar in the band, and I think some folks have interpreted that as almost making a statement by not having a guitar. I guess a little bit of guitar crept into this album. Is that kind of a conscious thing where you feel like that’s a new direction too, or did that just feel right?

Again, you know, it just felt right. A lot of that came on the demos, just me tinkering around with guitars. I think it came from listening to a lot of Talking Heads, and also, you know, I went to see Prince play when he was in London last year and it was just phenomenal. I’ve never been a huge Prince fan, it was just kind of one of those things that happened to other people, if you will (laughs). But you know, I went to see him play and I was just absolutely blown away, that kind of funky guitar stuff was just something I kind of wanted to have a go at. Again, in the spirit of you know, just trying new stuff. And it kind of became part of the record. So it’s really fun when you try new stuff and it works. And that sense of fun and energy is something that you can’t fabricate at all, you can’t contrive it. It’s either in the room when you’re recording or it’s not. And if it is, if you’re lucky enough to have that sort of magical energy in the room, then it comes across in the music. And you know, even through the cold medium of a CD or an MP3 or whatever, that’s magic, that’s what makes great music I think, and I’m really proud that, you know, you can feel that on our record.

The title track, you said you think it might be the best song you’ve ever written. What’s the inspiration behind Perfect Symmetry, the song?

It’s kind of the sort of central peg of the record, I suppose, you know, hence the title. It’s just about this sense that the whole theme of the album overall is this sense of that we’re, as human beings, we’re often to kind of, we get tied up with kind of, I don’t know, with things that are ugly, basically. You know, whether that’s sort of desperately scrambling for fame and sort of the reality TV shows or whatever, or whether it’s the more serious side of, you know, the sort of endless cycles of violence that we seem to get caught up in. And you know, the spirit of this record is this great belief that we, that people are capable of much more beautiful and amazing things than that. And you know, that particular song is really a kind of, it’s a sort of outreached hand, an outstretched hand, you know, saying we can… it’s kind of a hippie song, you know, just saying let’s put an end to this madness, this wasting our very brief time on the earth trying to kill each other, and actually celebrate the beautiful things in life.

What’s it like to sit down and write a batch of lyrics that you know someone else is going to be singing?

It’s great. I mean it’s an honor, really. I mean Tom is undoubtedly one of the best singers in the world right now, and I would say one of the best frontmen around. And we’ve been making music together for, I don’t know how long, it must be at least twenty years. And I’ve never really, you know, it’s just, it’s amazing to have such a telepathic relationship with him that when I write a song, I just sort of almost hear it being sung by him in my head, if you know what I mean. I don’t even have to think about it, really. And I think we’re very blessed that we have that sort of instinctive relationship. So you know it’s great because he can lift the songs into a whole new plane just by first of all having such an incredible voice but also the way he interprets particular lines and words and the little twists he puts on things. And you know, so he brings so much to a song that I could never bring to it myself. So I guess that’s what being in a band is all about.

From here in America it seems like your album is likely to be very big on the charts, very successful, and of course Coldplay just had their album, Oasis just had a big successful album, Snow Patrol is about to come out with one. Sitting here in America I keep seeing all these British bands and I keep thinking, are we on the verge of another British invasion or what? Do you have any sense of that at all?

I don’t know about that (laughs). I mean we have such a strange attitude over here cause, you know, the British press just loves the idea of bands kind of taking over America, cause we’re so jingoistic and so on. So if a band turns up in New York and plays to a three-course full crowd at the Mercury Lounge or something, or manages to actually play at the Viper Room or something, then suddenly it’s sort of all over the front cover of the NME that they’ve broken America or whatever. And you know very well that America’s such a massive country. Being successful on the coast is one thing, but to really have that kind of you know permeation where you can play all over the country, and people are hearing your music from east to west and north to south, you know, that takes years and years of very hard work and a lot of luck and a lot of great music. You know, I don’t know. I think it’s very tough to do that. And you know, I don’t know how many British bands if any are actually achieving that at the moment. But you know, I can only speak for ourselves, and I know that we feel that we’ve been just unbelievably lucky with the way people have embraced our music in the States. You know, we’ve toured and toured and toured, and we wish we could do more. I’m just really proud of the fact that we can go into towns sort of all over the States and be able to play a gig and have people come see us. It’s so exciting, it’s such a romantic dream, you know, to be able to sort of drive across the States from one place to the other, playing your songs. But I don’t know, I don’t know. Do you think there’s a British invasion going on?

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Perfect Symmetry is currently at number one on the U.S. iTunes Alternative chart, and number one overall on the UK iTUnes charts. Keane is touring in Europe through February.