Chaplin in the limelight
If Coldplay had released an album this year, perhaps things would have been different. As it was, East Sussex trio Keane ably sated the public's thirst for posh lads with pianos. They were unknowns in January but long-term occupants of the number one spot in the albums chart come May.
Debut long-player Hope and Fears, 12 tracks of soaring, anthemic pop, even denied an angry Morrissey his rightful place in the top spot with his comeback album. Now the band are bringing their dream-fulfilling year to a close with a UK tour that culminates in three concerts at Brixton Academy this week.
Singer Tom Chaplin sounded in fine voice, despite being forced to postpone two shows last week due to a throat infection. It was a good thing he was on form, for aside from his powerful lungs Keane have precious little to grab the attention.
They are a guitarless band, one of many crimes their detractors cite as grounds to condemn them for drippiness and sentence them to 10 years' hard labour throwing televisions out of hotel windows. With the assistance of drummer Richard Hughes, Tim Rice-Oxley's piano had to provide a huge proportion of the sound. His left leg was the most watchable thing on the sparse stage, bouncing around like that of a tickled dog.
Now that they are playing large venues, Chaplin's prep school looks are less of a problem, and he seemed to have been practising his rock star poses, singing with legs splayed and crashing his mic stand to the floor at big moments.
There were plenty of those, for Keane have already perfected the art of writing songs that swell from minimal beginnings towards giant choruses. The sound on tracks such as Bend and Break and Everybody's Changing was filled out with mass audience participation.
One new song, Nothing in Your Way, sounded like yet another top 10 single, although a new ballad, possibly called Lay Myself Down, was rather dull. Chaplin was earnest in his talk of how lucky he feels, losing still more rock points, but with songs as strong as encores The Last Time and Bedshaped, he has something more valuable than credibility.
