KeaneTime has been kind to Keane, allowing the band to embrace growing up gracefully while developing a more mature voice and depth of sound. The piano-led music remains, but singer Tom Chaplin's vocals have taken on a lower, fuller range that definitely suits him and the band's evolved sound.
Strangeland is the fourth studio album from the band and they've taken their time to get this one right. Four years to be precise. There are no big surprises here and their music will still sound to some like middle-of-the-road indie-pop, however the tempo is noticeably more upbeat and the style more diverse than previous albums.
A number of the more poppy tracks on the album have an uncanny resemblance to The Killers, not just in style but also in name, such as You Are Young and Neon River – nods to When You Were Young and Neon Tiger perhaps? Die hard Keane fans will be pleased to know that the album is still littered with the emotive ballads for which they are best known and loved, including Black Rain, Watch How You Go and Starting Line which all hark back to Chaplin's trademark high-stretched vocals accompanied by tinkling piano. Day Will Come is a more energetic number with building harmonies, as is Silenced By The Night, where Chaplin declares “You and I, we're gonna rise again.”
Strangelands is pretty much what you would expect from Keane and will have been worth the wait for most, but it also offers some more fun in a grown-up style that may attract new fans to take a listen.
