Keane

The band formed in Battle, East Sussex, and reached a worldwide audience with Hopes and Fears in 2004. “Somewhere Only We Know”, “Everybody’s Changing” and “Bedshaped” made the defining qualities clear: repeated piano figures, a strong sense of rising tension and melodies that leave little room for the singer to hide.

The arrangements are often simpler than the emotional effect suggests. Richard Hughes’s drums give the songs a firm physical movement, while the piano can shift from a small figure into a wide, ringing sound. The album is strongest when heard as a sequence, where the more reflective songs change the weight of the familiar singles.

Under the Iron Sea in 2006 made the atmosphere more unsettled. Distorted keyboards, heavier rhythms and more fractured feelings entered the writing. “Is It Any Wonder?” has a sharp, restless attack; “A Bad Dream” and “Atlantic” take a slower, more submerged route. The band’s own account of the record describes a period of disconnection that became part of the music.

Perfect Symmetry in 2008 then opened the palette towards brighter synthesisers and a more overt pop rhythm. Those first three records give a useful outline of Keane’s range. The instruments change colour, but the central pleasure stays consistent: a melody finding more space than it first seemed to need.