Keane Putting Finishing Touches To New Album And Announce Summer Festival Dates

Keane are currently in the studio putting the final touches to a brand new studio album, set for release later in the year, the first to be released by them since ‘Strangeland’, which came out in 2012. 2019 is shaping up to be big for Keane, one of Britain’s most beloved bands, who will also play a slew of festival dates this summer, including British Summer Time Hyde Park, as special guests to Robbie Williams, on July 14.

Keane recently appeared on BBC Comic Relief, performing ‘Somewhere Only We Know’, from their 2004 album, ‘Hopes And Fears’. Fans, understandably, took to social media in their droves; it was as if Keane had never been away.

Frontman Tom Chaplin, who has been enjoying a fruitful solo career in recent years, and has released two highly successful albums during Keane’s hiatus, found himself meeting up with Tim Rice-Oxley, songwriter and pianist for Keane. The pair listened to songs Tim had planned on releasing as part of a solo project, and Tom was so incredibly moved by the honesty of the writing, that he asked Tim if he could help bring them to life.

“I thought it was the most personal, most vulnerable set of songs that I’d ever heard,” says Tom Chaplin, “and I was very drawn to that. It felt like a story that I could help articulate.”

It wasn’t long before Tom and Tim, along with the rest of Keane, drummer Richard Hughes, and bassist Jesse Quin, found themselves in the studio working on the new album, one they’re all extremely proud of.

In addition to BST Hyde Park, Keane have announced they will be playing a number of European festivals this summer, including a headline appearance at Cornbury Festival on July 6.

Full dates are as below:

June
Sun 9th – Hello Festival, Emmen, Netherlands

July
Sat 6th – Cornbury Festival, Oxfordshire, UK
Sun 14th – BST Hyde Park, London, UK (supporting Robbie Williams)
Fri 19th – MEO Marés Vivas, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal
Sat 20th – Noches del Botanico, Madrid, Spain
Sun 21st – 4Ever Valencia, Spain

September
Mon 7th – Live On The Beach, Den Haag, Netherlands

More news and live dates will be announced in due course.

Find out more about Keane, their music, and their continuing plans, on their official website.

About the author

Lisa has been writing for over 20 years, starting as the entertainment editor on her university newspaper. Since then she's written for Popwrapped, Maximum Pop, Celebmix, and ListenOnRepeat.

Lisa loves all good music, with particular fondness for Jedward and David Bowie. She's interviewed Edward Grimes (Jedward), Kevin Godley, Trevor Horn, Paul Young, Peter Cox (Go West), Brendan B Brown (Wheatus), Bruce Foxton (The Jam), among many many more. Lisa is also available for freelance writing - please email lisa@essentiallypop.com