MUCH has been made of Keane's reinvigorated musical style, and third album Perfect Symmetry certainly displays a breezier pop range than their somewhat pious former fare allowed for, with guitars – until now forsaken in favour of a dual piano lead –
even making an appearance. Tom Chaplin's battles with drink and drug addiction have also opened up a new well of unlikely rock credibility.
It's a case of the Emperor's new clothes fitting better than most, really, in that Chaplin and co have effected a seismic shift in emphasis to get from being not very good to being merely decent. The intimate nature of this show, a low-key affair on the day their new album was released, meant that these were the best circumstances in which to see the band. For his part, Chaplin plugged the new album and next January's SECC date with salesmanlike charm and efficiency.
To give credit where it's due, the drabness of their inexplicably popular dirges Everybody's Changing, Somewhere Only We Know and Bed Shaped is only further accentuated when heard next to the new material, including the singles Spiralling and The Lovers Are Losing, and Perfect Symmetry's title track. On each of these, Keane seem to have been practising a particularly 1980s-referencing AOR pop style, with shades of Supertramp and Journey glimmering through.
The new songs and the face-to-face setting made this set tolerable and occasionally entertaining. But don't believe the hype – this bunch have got some way to go before they shake of the memory off their first two records' soul-sapping lack of heart or aspiration.
The full article contains 273 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
