Album of the Week - Hopes & Fears
Hopes & Fears
Keane
Hopes & Fears is the debut album from british pop rock band Keane. It was released in May 2004 after several years of playing cover songs and original material live. The album topped the UK charts in its first week and and also had a string of hit singles. As a result of this album Keane also received two Brit Awards for Best Breakthrough Act and Best Album 2005 and a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.
Keane is not the type of music I usually listen to. In fact I usually stay clear of the pop type of music especially if it is recent. I tend to get bored pretty quickly of the same three chord riffs, basic beats and unimaginative, mundane lyrics but Keane is a completely different story. Although I had heard of Keane I hadn’t actually heard anything from them until earlier this year when my girlfriend and some friends went and saw them live and I tagged along. It was only $50 and was a public holiday so I thought I’d give it a go. My expectations were low but the majestic yet powerful vocals from Tom Chaplin along with the brilliant keyboards from Tim Rice-Oxley and the smart, sometimes cheeky beats of Richard Hughes got me interested quickly and by the end of the set I was convinced of their talent. It’s still my idea of easy listening but its something that I can keep listening to without getting bored.
So here are my top picks from Keane’s Hopes & Fears:
- Somewhere Only We Know
- Bend and Break
- This Is the Last Time
- Bedshaped
Full track list:
- Somewhere Only We Know (3:57)
- Bend and Break (3:40)
- We Might as Well Be Strangers (3:12)
- Everybody’s Changing (3:35)
- Your Eyes Open (3:22)
- She Has No Time (5:45)
- Can’t Stop Now (3:38)
- Sunshine (4:12)
- This Is the Last Time (3:28)
- On a Day Like Today (5:26)
- Untitled 1 (5:36)
- Bedshaped (4:37)
So that’s another album of the week. Check in every week for another installment. You never know, you may find a gem you never knew existed or get reminded of a long forgotten album you once loved.
