vinylfanatics.com

**Keane - Under The Iron Sea**
★★★★☆

The weight of expectation can crush even the most resilient of bands, but few have felt its burden quite like Keane did in the mid-noughties. Following the stratospheric success of their 2004 debut *Hopes and Fears* – which shifted over five million copies worldwide and spawned anthems like "Somewhere Only We Know" and "Everybody's Changing" – the East Sussex trio found themselves in that peculiar purgatory reserved for overnight sensations: damned if they repeated the formula, damned if they didn't.

What emerged from this creative crucible was *Under The Iron Sea*, an album that saw the band diving headfirst into darker waters, both literally and metaphorically. The record's genesis was turbulent, born from Tom Chaplin's well-documented struggles with addiction and the band's collective anxiety about following up their phenomenal debut. Where *Hopes and Fears* had been crafted in the relative obscurity of a Helioscentric Studios in East Sussex, its successor was forged under the intense scrutiny of international fame, with sessions taking place across multiple locations including the legendary Abbey Road.

The album's title, lifted from Keane's own track of the same name, perfectly encapsulates the claustrophobic atmosphere that permeates much of the record. This isn't the wide-eyed optimism of their debut; instead, we're plunged beneath the surface into something altogether more complex and occasionally suffocating. Producer Andy Green, returning from the first album, helps the band navigate these treacherous depths while maintaining their essential DNA – that distinctive blend of piano-driven melodies and soaring vocals that had made them such an anomaly in the guitar-dominated landscape of mid-2000s British rock.

Musically, *Under The Iron Sea* sees Keane expanding their palette considerably. While Tim Rice-Oxley's piano remains the beating heart of their sound, the arrangements are notably more ambitious and layered. Opening track "Atlantic" crashes in with orchestral grandeur, its sweeping strings and martial rhythms setting the stage for what feels like an epic journey. It's a bold statement of intent that immediately signals this isn't *Hopes and Fears Part II*.

The album's strongest moments come when the band fully commits to this expanded vision. "Is It Any Wonder?" remains one of their finest singles, its urgent piano motif and Chaplin's increasingly desperate vocals creating a sense of mounting tension that's genuinely thrilling. The song's success proved that Keane could evolve their sound without abandoning what made them special. Similarly, "Crystal Ball" showcases the band at their most emotionally raw, with Chaplin's vocals soaring over Rice-Oxley's delicate piano work in a way that recalls their debut's most affecting moments.

"Hamburg Song" stands as perhaps the album's most adventurous track, its Germanic influences and unconventional structure pointing toward the more experimental territories the band would later explore. Meanwhile, the title track itself is a masterclass in building atmosphere, its aquatic metaphors and claustrophobic production creating an almost physical sense of drowning that perfectly mirrors the album's thematic concerns.

Not everything hits the mark with equal force. "Leave It All Behind" and "Put It Behind You" occasionally feel like the band treading water rather than swimming toward new horizons, their melodies pleasant but lacking the emotional punch of the album's peaks. These moments of relative conventionality serve as reminders of how difficult it can be for a band to completely reinvent themselves while maintaining their core appeal.

The album's legacy has proven more complex than its immediate commercial success might suggest. While it topped the UK charts and spawned several hit singles, *Under The Iron Sea* has often been overshadowed by both its predecessor and the band's later, more experimental work. In retrospect, however, it stands as a crucial bridge between the Keane that conquered the world and the more adventurous outfit they would become.

What's most impressive about *Under The Iron Sea* is how it captures a band in genuine transition. This isn't the sound of musicians playing it safe or cynically repeating a successful formula. Instead, it documents three young men grappling with fame, addiction, and the pressure to evolve, channeling those struggles into music that's both deeply personal and universally resonant. Nearly two decades later, it remains a compelling snapshot of a band brave enough to dive deeper, even when they weren't entirely sure what they'd find in those murky depths.