Album Review: Keane - Under the Iron Sea (4.5 / 5)

Every band has its resident genius. Chris Martin clearly fills that position in Coldplay. In Keane it’s Tim Rice-Oxley, the band’s songwriter and principal musician (he does everything except sing—that’s Tom Chapman’s gig—and drum—that duty goes to Richard Hughes). Yet unlike Martin, Rice-Oxley is content to exist in frontman Chapman’s shadow like an anonymous puppetmaster. Maybe that’s a stretch, but Under the Iron Sea is a testament to Rice-Oxley’s melodic genius and represents a solid attempt by the band to stretch it’s creativity beyond just making beautiful songs. That it doesn’t quite succeed makes it all the more endearing for having tried.

Hopes and Fears, Keane’s 2004 album, was a remarkable debut achievement. Every song was a winner, particularly the first 5 tracks, and the act was notable for substituting piano completely for guitar as the backbone of their uplifting rock melodies. For Under the Iron Sea, the band decided to go with a concept of sorts—darker, moodier works. There’s still a lot of the same kind of music on this disc as their first album, but many of the tracks resonate with darker, richer attempts, drawing from U2, classical music, and the war for inspiration.

“Atlantic” opens slowly with a minute of slowly building instrumentation before the Tom Chapman’s boyishly sweet vocals kick in. It’s a far cry from the top 40 pop of “Somewhere Only We Know,” the opener from their last album. “Atlantic” is dark and moody, swirling with long synth chords and . And then it takes a beautiful turn toward brighter pastures—one of my favorite moments on the album is right here as Tom sings “I need a place that’s hidden in the deep…” as Tim’s chord structures change underneath. It’s quite moving and beautiful.

Keane then turns up the volume nobs—way up—for second track “Is It Any Wonder?” the loudest, rockiest song they’ve recorded yet. Is that electric guitar we hear? No! Keane does NOT do electric guitar. It’s actually electric piano that Tim modified with effects pedals to sound almost like guitar. While Keane’s first album drew many obvious comparisons to Coldplay, and the second disc does too, this track is pure U2 legacy. A smashing choice for the album’s lead single.

Next up is “Nothing in My Way,” which covers more traditional Keane territory we are used to hearing, Tim’s beautifully structured piano- and synth-driven melody under Tom’s emotional vocal. If the piano chords sound vaguely familiar, it’s no accident. Rice-Oxley has said this song was inspired by Eminem’s “Lose Yourself,” and the influence is there, albeit subtly. It’s a great song too, one of my favorites on the album. Followed by “Leaving So Soon,” another strong track.

Track 5 though is the real clincher. Every time I listen to it I get chills, and it grabs me from its first initial synth notes. “A Bad Dream” tells the story of a disillusioned airplane fighter pilot who feels alone and tired—“guess I’m not the fighting kind” he says. The song opens with some low rumbling synth cords—reminiscent of the sound of far away WWII-era fighter planes. It’s a remarkable song on so many levels. It’s achingly beautiful—the most beautiful song Keane has recorded. It’s also a subtle, yet extremely effective way to comment on the Iraq war. Rather than throwing out anger and diatribes against governments and politicians—the old standby method that has renewed the interest of some rock musicians of late—Keane express their POV by telling a simple story of one man in the war who doesn’t want to be there. It’s sad and beautiful and moving. I hope it gets released as a single, as I would LOVE to see the video.

“Hamburg Song,” so titled because it was written in Hamburg and they could think of no other moniker, is a simple ballad that is saved from tedium by its beautiful bridge of rich chords that sounds like it could have come from a Chopin composition. “Put it Behind You” cribs from Hopes and Fears’ “Bend and Break,” and while enjoyable, isn’t as good as its antecedent.

By this point in the album, the concept seems to break down. Sure, some of the tracks were darker, but songs like “Put it Behind You” and “Crystal Ball” are more like business as usual for Keane. The second half of the album also brings its one true disappointment, the title track “Iron Sea.” This is an 2½ minute instrumental track of high-feedback synths. People either really like or dislike this composition, and I’m afraid I fall into the latter camp. It just doesn’t do anything for me and it feels really disconnected from the rest of the album. There’s no transition being made, as the dark piece sits between two of the album’s poppiest numbers. Strangely, on the American version of the album, “Iron Sea” isn’t given its own track placing, but sits right after “Put It Behind You” as the last 2:48 of track 7. Bizarre. Things pick up again with “Crystal Ball,” this album’s “Everybody’s Changing,” a great upbeat traditionally Keane song.

The last three tracks of the album are okay, but don’t really hold my interest. “Try Again” plods along rather quietly before an injection of strong piano and synth chords after the second verse, making it sound almost like the band’s first single. “Broken Toy” sounds vaguely retro/jazzy and is very piano-focused, but a little too long. “The Frog Prince” finishes the collection in true Keane style, and even surprises with a somewhat unstructured middle section.

Under the Iron Sea is a worthy follow-up to Hopes and Fears; overall, it’s not as consistent as their first album, but its high points are truly remarkable, particularly “A Bad Dream,” “Atlantic” and “Is It Any Wonder?” The band has talked openly about how it almost fell apart between these albums; hopefully they can keep it together to deliver album #3 by 2008.