Keane talk ‘best of’ album, Lily Allen cover and Glasgow beginnings - Interview | MarkMeets | Celebrity News, Music, Movies, TV, London Film Premieres

Keane took some time out to chat to about everything from their new album, to Lily Allen’s cover of one of their biggest track.

Keane are an English alternative rock band from Battle, East Sussex, formed in 1997. The group currently comprises Tim Rice-Oxley (piano, synthesisers, backing vocals), Richard Hughes (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Jesse Quin (bass guitar, acoustic/electric guitar, backing vocals) and Tom Chaplin (lead vocals, acoustic/electric guitar). Their original line-up included founder and guitarist Dominic Scott, who left in 2001.

As the guys mark their long-running music career with the release of a ‘best of’ album, one of their most iconic tracks, Somewhere Only We Know, has been given a fresh sound by none other than tough talking pop princess Lily Allen.

Lily’s version features on the festive John Lewis advert, and has now become a massive hit in the charts as a result, landing the singer her third UK number one.

“John Lewis asked if they could use the song and they have a history now of getting a young female vocalist to record a cover version, and we suggested Lily as an idea for somebody to record it because we love her, we love her singing, Richard Hughes explained.

“And she has been a fan of Keane for a long time, so we thought it would work really nicely, we think she did an amazing job.

“It’s funny to see Keane’s chart hit doesn’t have Keane in it! It’s really beautiful, and we’re really happy for her.”

Of course diehard fans of Keane will prefer their own original work – something they can indulge in with their new release,The Best of Keane, which offers a compilation of their biggest, and favourite, tracks.

“We call it our ‘best of’, we didn’t want to call it our ‘greatest hits’ because we didn’t have enough songs to put in there. Just kidding!” Tom said.

“We wanted to take people through a journey of what we think is the best version of Keane’s life so far and we picked out our favourite songs. It’s not just the singles people may have on the radio, it’s album tracks and songs we feel are very important and special for us.

That’s one part of that and we also gathered together all the b-sides we’ve made over the years which was a labour of love.”

Listen to the guys talking fully about their new album, Lily Allen’s cover of their track, and their love for Glasgow, where they played one of their first gigs and returned for their recent Clyde 1 concert at Kelvingrove Art Gallery, in the video above.

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Keane achieved mainstream success with the release of their debut album, Hopes and Fears, in 2004. The album won multiple awards, including the Brit Award for Best British Album, and was the second best-selling British album of the year. Their second studio album, Under the Iron Sea, continued the band’s success, topping the album charts in the UK and debuting at No.4 on the Billboard 200 chart. Their third album, Perfect Symmetry was released in October 2008. The launch featured a series of symmetry-based installations including a 10m long half image of a sleeping woman pasted over 100 cardboard boxes and reflected in 400 mirror tiles on the floor to reveal a full perso

Their fourth studio album, Strangeland, was released in May 2012, and again peaked at No.1 on the UK Albums Chart.

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