Western Oregon Journal

Issue date: 11/9/07 Section: Culture

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The album of the British rock band Keane (pronounced keen), "Hopes and Fears," which came out in 2004, is amazing. I would call it chipper or exciting, but those just don't seem to fit. Every time I listen to the CD it seems it knows exactly what I'm feeling, it makes me feel better by just listening to it. I could be happy never turning it off.

They may not be a well known band since they are from overseas, but you may recognize a couple of their songs from the show "Grey's Anatomy." The band won two awards at the 2005 Brit Awards in February; they won Best British Album for "Hopes and Fears" and the British breakthrough act award, as voted for by listeners of BBC Radio 1, defeating bands such as Muse or Franz Ferdinand. Three months later, Rice-Oxley, the pianist of Keane, received the Ivor Novello Award for songwriter of the year.

The band has been known as "the band with no guitars", due to its heavily piano-based sound. By using delay and distortion effects on their piano sound, they often create sounds that aren't immediately recognizable as piano. They are commonly seen as creating a lighter sound. This CD lives up to that reputation with a gentle and calming feel; the ideal description would be peaceful.

This band is often compared to Coldplay; I would agree with that assessment, since their sound is so gentle, soothing and the fact you can listen to it on a regular basis, not just when you're in a certain mood. Now a few of the new bands such as The Fray and Morning Runner are being compared to Coldplay and to Keane for their piano-oriented sound.•

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