Keane’s Strangeland Hits Home
By Sandra Mae Laureano
You might remember hearing about Keane for the first time ever when MTV Asia (at the time it was screened in Philippine television) hailed the band as the month’s Buzzworthy (which can be roughly translated to ‘Artist of the Month’ for the 90s MTV tuners). Even then, Keane had been a band that went beyond expectations. When the music videos of “Somewhere Only We Know” and “Everybody’s Changing” premiered in 2004, they were rather bare. They featured three British lads – one in vocals, one in piano and one in drums. That’s right. No guitars. Not even bass. The surprise doesn’t end there, though. With such a minimalistic approach, astoundingly, their music never lacked for anything. As it goes, Keane is characterized by the piano-driven melodies complemented with the vivacious drumbeats and wrapped in the glasslike vocals that sung with such sophistication and refinement.
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