Keane Inspired By The Vaccines

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 7th May 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 to the 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’. 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. 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 23rd May and runs until 8th June, when Keane will headline London’s O2 Academy Brixton.

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