Keane

About Keane

The band formed in 1995 at Tonbridge School with Tom Chaplin on vocals and guitar, Tim Rice-Oxley on keyboards and bass, Richard Hughes on drums, and founder Dominic Scott on guitar. Scott departed in 2001, and Jesse Quin joined on bass and guitar, establishing the lineup that would record their breakthrough albums. Hopes and Fears arrived in 2004 to immediate commercial success, winning the 2005 Brit Award for Best British Album and selling extensively throughout the UK and internationally. Their second album Under the Iron Sea followed in 2006, also topping the UK charts and reaching number four on the US Billboard 200.

The band continued with Perfect Symmetry in 2008 and Strangeland in 2012, both albums exploring the use of distorted piano and synthesizers that became hallmarks of their evolving sound. Their distinctive reliance on keyboards gave them a particular sonic identity within alternative rock. In May 2008, Q magazine readers voted both Hopes and Fears and Under the Iron Sea among the best British albums ever, placing Keane alongside The Beatles, Oasis, and Radiohead as the only acts with two albums in that list's top 20. The band released a compilation album The Best of Keane in 2013 before entering a near five-year hiatus. They returned in 2019 with Cause and Effect, an album featuring material written by Rice-Oxley during personal changes, followed by touring across Europe and Latin America until the pandemic. Keane have sold over 13 million records worldwide, and The Groove Hunter currently tracks 5 editions of their vinyl releases, including Hopes and Fears, The Best Of Keane on 2 LP, and the Under the Iron Sea 20th Anniversary Zoetrope Half-speed pressing.