Britpop trio Keane is headed this way on the heels of its third album, "Perfect Symmetry." The group's chief songwriter, keyboardist Tim Rice-Oxley, spoke to us by phone last week before a show in Denver.
RIB PLATTERS NOT PICTURED: "Probably the thing I'm most proud of that we've achieved as a band is that we've done something new with each record," says Keane's Tim Rice-Oxley, right, seen here with Richard Hughes, left, and Tom Chaplin. PREVIEW:
Keane
When: 7 p.m. Sunday, May 24 (as part of Great American Rib Cook Off).
Openers: Mat Kearney and Helio Sequence.
Where: Time Warner Cable Amphitheater, 351 Canal Road, Cleveland.
Tickets: $7.50-$22 at the box office and www.livenation.com, or charge by phone at 1-877-598-8703.
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Q: How does "Perfect Symmetry" stack up against Keane's previous albums?A: I'm very, very proud of it. I think it's the best thing we've done . . . for lots of reasons.
I'm really, really proud of the lyrics on this album. I pushed myself much harder in terms of expressing things in a new and articulate way.
And sonically, I think we've really explored some new territory. It's also much more uptempo and much more danceable. It has a great energy that was not always present on the first two albums.
The first two records are a bit more relaxed or chilled-out or whatever you want to call it. I'm proud that we've done something that's a bit more colorful.
Q: "Perfect Symmetry" takes its title from the song of the same name. What made it an appealing hook for the whole album?
A: It's a much more philosophical record than anything we've done before. To put it in the simplest terms, the message of that song is a pretty old one -- you reap what you sow.
The whole album is infused with a spirit of great human sympathy and great love of our fellow inhabitants of this planet, whereas some of our previous work -- our second album especially is quite an angry record.
This new album is much more full of love and full of hope.
The symmetry of "you reap what you sow" as a basic starting point for a way to live your life seemed like a great way of summing up the whole record.
Q: What role do you see for the piano in Keane's music, going forward?
A: That's a really tough question. I don't know the answer to it.
Probably the thing I'm most proud of that we've achieved as a band is that we've done something new with each record. We got to a point where I don't think anyone could say for sure what the next Keane album is going to sound like. And there's not many bands that you can say that about.
The slight downside is that I haven't got a clue what it's going to sound like, either.
I'm sure the piano will always be a part of our music. It's certainly the instrument I feel most comfortable with. But then, I love playing synthesizers and other keyboards as well.
We'll keep experimenting and see what happens. But I'm sure the piano will always be there, lurking in the background.
Q: Keane is hugely popular in the United Kingdom. Has the U.S. been tough to crack?
A: It's tough to crack for any British band. But I have to say, I don't think we have any complaints at all.
People are very, very good to us out here. I don't really know why that is. I like to think it's basically down to writing great songs and putting on great shows.
I think it's also because, especially on the first album, we really toured very hard out here.
American bands, they're brought up with this ethos of touring and playing live, and that's how you build up a following.
We've kind of lost that in the U.K. The U.K. is so small that you only have to have one song on the radio, and suddenly you're big stars. I'm not sure how healthy that is.
Q: In Cleveland, you're playing a rib cook-off. Do you have rib cook-offs in the U.K.?
A: We might have some kind of strangely quaint British equivalent involving baking cakes or something.
But the rib cook-off is such a fantastic part of American culture. It's pretty unique to this country.
I don't know what to expect, really. I'm pretty excited about it. What's it going to be like?
Q: It's going to smell really good.
A: Great! I can see myself eating far too much. . . . I can't wait.
Q: What else are you excited about?
A: We just did a little bit of work in the studio w a guy called K'naan. . . . He's a great rapper.
We spent a few days with him in London, in the studio. Kind of a different genre for us, obviously. But we came up with two or three tracks that are really exciting.
From a creative point of view, that's the thing we're really focusing on at the moment, just getting those finished. I don't know what we're going to do with them. But it's nice just to be making new music as well as touring the stuff we've already recorded.
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