BBC Review
You'd better make some more room in the guilty pleasures section of your music...
Shalinee Singh 2006-05-09
With four singles released in 2004, you could be forgiven for becoming sick of Keane's MOR tunes being played to death on the radio.
Thankfully there's now some new material to listen to and unlike their comparatively light-hearted debut, Under The Iron Sea offers an intense look at the dark underbelly of the human psyche. Tim Rice Oxleys skill with a synth adds depth to impassioned songs such as "Hamburg Song" even if it does occasionally go OTT.
Whether self-indulgently heartbreaking ("Broken Toy") or slightly giggle-inducing ("Crystal Ball": "Oh crystal ball, crystal ball / Save us all, tell me life is beautiful") Tom Chaplin's angelic vocals are unfalteringly sincere.
The Sussex trio allegedly avoided a split during the making of this album, thanks to the sheer quality of the music.
With no hope of 'musical differences' surfacing between the life-long friends, you'd better make some more room in the guilty pleasures section of your music collection.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence. If you choose to use this review on your site please link back to this page.
© MMIX
CommentsSign in
You need to sign in to contribute to this page. If you haven't registered to leave comments, creating your membership is quick and easy.
If you think that the guitar is the most important part of a rock band, Keane?s second album came to prove you wrong.
Starting with the brilliant ?Atlantic?, you feel embraced by a soothing and contemplative atmosphere. Each song leads to more heartfelt lyrics, but nothing too sweet, sang by Tom Chaplin?s silky voice.
Under the Iron Sea proves to be a stunning album of an inimitable style. It is possible to notice the songs are part of a greater context, but it does not make the album sound repetitive. The album is named by a B-side song, which appears unaccredited as an invisible division between the seven first tracks from the others.
Their simple but still puzzling themes such as loneliness, death, love and friendship make of this album something to be heard over and over. Not because the beat will stick to your head in an unpleasant way, but because, in the middle of the day you will think how great it will be to arrive home and listen to ?Nothing in my way? to make things better.
The sad song ?Bad Dream?, based on W. B. Yeats?s poem ?An Irish man foresees his death? shows the fantastic Tim Rice-Oxley on the piano and Tom?s angelical-as-always voice.
Tracks as ?Leaving so soon?? and ?Put it behind you? rise the spirits with their faster rhythm, even if you notice a hint of irony in Tom?s ?[?] it?s funny how it?s easy to forget her face?. The cover illustration, by Sanna Annukka, lead us to the dream world of Nordic fairytales, in a chaotic submerse city.
If you enjoy well-built and harmonic songs, and if you think that songs can give hope and strength, Under the Iron Sea will be your favourite album for a long time.
By Leticia Forster, Brazil
Complain about this comment
View these comments in RSS