CD Review: Under The Iron Sea

Note: I wrote this ages ago for a newspaper out in California who told me then that they would soon publish it. They still haven't so I am putting it here! If for whatever reason I am unable to keep this posted when it gets published (ah the power of positive thinking!) then I'll delete this post. I think it needs to see the light of day somehow! Looking at it now, I know my opinion of Keane has changed since I wrote this, but for purposes of a time-capsule style entry, I'll post the review I wrote as it was when I first wrote it.

With their piano driven rock and their introspective lyrics, Keane certainly aren’t going to ask you to get up and dance any time soon. They’d rather know how you were feeling at that very moment and let you know how they were feeling themselves. It can be a bit melancholy at times, but Tom Chaplin’s voice soars above it all.

What Keane are doing isn’t particularly groundbreaking. Plenty of comparisons have been made between Keane and Coldplay and Radiohead. Unfortunately these days, any band that primarily uses a piano will have people nodding over in the direction of Coldplay, and Chaplin’s singing is like a cross between the show-stopping acrobatics of Dennis DeYoung from Styx and Freddie Mercury and the emotive wailing of Thom Yorke.

The album opens with “Atlantic,” a song that sounds moody and ominous, like you were stuck on a rowboat at sea with a storm cloud rushing at you. But then the mood is quickly uplifted with “Is It Any Wonder?” the band’s first single.

This may be the one song that allows Keane to get greater radio exposure, but it might also be the one song that does not sound like typical Keane. “Everybody’s Changing” off of Keane’s 2004 debut Hopes and Fears seemed to paint Keane as a somber, mopey band who seemed to despair over the lack of permanence occurring in their day-to-day life. The rest of the album sounded quite similar, with a moody piano and bass backing up Chaplin plaintively asking “What does it all mean and where do I fit into it?”

With Under the Iron Sea, Keane are still earnestly asking the same philosophical questions but the band’s sound is much more upbeat. The opening riff of “Is It Any Wonder?” might confuse some people into thinking that someone in Keane has finally decided to pick up a guitar, but in fact, the sounds are made by Tim Rice-Oxley playing a distorted piano. This could be the one song that Keane could play in concert and send its fans pogoing into the aisles.

“Put It Behind You” is one of the stranger songs on the album. It starts off as a pretty straight-forward rock piece, but the song abruptly ends at around the four minute mark. What follows next are two minutes of an odd mix of swirling, atmospheric synthesizer loops. It’s quite a departure from the original tune and really doesn’t add anything special to it.

The next track, “Crystal Ball” is just as shimmery and ethereal an experience as one would hope going to a gypsy to find out your future might be. The only song that is really weak on this album is “Hamburg Song,” which features an annoyingly slow piano. As it is a holdover from their Hopes and Fears days, it’s a good reminder as to just how much their sound has evolved.

Keane might still be concerned about their future and finding their place in the world but seem like they will be enjoying their journey of self-discovery more than they did before. Under the Iron Sea is worth a listen, and you’ll especially like it if you are into Coldplay, Muse or any other band that seems to owe a large debt to Radiohead.