Keane have revealed that the sound of their new album was inspired by The Vaccines.
The band, who are set to release their fourth album ‘Strangeland’ on May 7 and embark on a mini- tour to support it, said the sound was inspired by ‘What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?’, the band’s 2011 debut album.
Speaking exclusively to NME, the band’s pianist Tim Rice-Oxley said: “We loved what (producer) Dan Grech did on The Vaccines album. It had just come out. He’d also done stuff with Radiohead and produced the second Howling Bells album, which I loved. As luck would have it, Dan was a massive Keane fan, so we ended working with him.”
Meanwhile, singer Tom Chaplin compared the process of making ‘Strangeland’ to their 2004 debut ‘Hopes And Fears’. He said: “The process began in 2010. We began demoing tracks then. It’s the longest we’ve spent making a record since ‘Hopes and Fears’.”
He added: “The album has the vibe of earlier Keane. 2008’s ‘Perfect Symmetry’ was a big self-indulgent and this record felt a bit more like we knew ourselves a bit better and what our strengths were.”
Rice-Oxley added: “We wanted it be less production led and focus on making sure that the songs were great. You write a lot of shit songs to get to the good ones.”
He said the album was more deeply felt than before. “It’s a very emotional album. The title track is about setting off in a certain path in life and thinking it’s going to go one way, but finding out life’s taken a detour. Pretty much every song on the album is about that. (But) it’s a more hopeful record than it might sound!”
The band recently revealed the artwork for the album. They will play a nine date mini-tour in May. The run begins at Newcastle’s O2 Academy on May 23 and runs until June 8, when Keane will headline London’s O2 Academy Brixton.
To check the availability of Keane tickets and get all the latest listings, go to NME.COM/TICKETS now, or call 0871 230 1094.
The tracklisting for ‘Strangeland’ is as follows:
‘You Are Young’
‘Silenced By The Night’
‘Disconnected’
‘Watch How You Go’
‘Sovereign Light Café’
‘On The Road’
‘The Starting Line’
‘Black Rain’
‘Neon River’
‘Day Will Come’
‘In Your Own Time’
‘Sea Fog’