Album Review: Keane - Night Train (4/5)

Perfect Symmetry, while a decent album, failed to connect with the public, generating only one top 40 hit in Britain. I liked the album's turn toward '80s synth-pop, but missed the elegant piano pop-rock of their first two albums. Here then is Night Train, an eight-track EP that finds the band experimenting with different sounds, perhaps trying to find themselves a new voice.

After the seemingly pointless instrumental opener "Horse Lights," (which to me doesn't set up the album or the next song) "Back in Time" is the first proper song. It's got an ominous melody and guitar--a rarity for the band. I'd like it better if the maniacal keyboard effects during the chorus didn't drown out the rest of the song.

Then there's "Stop for a Minute," which despite sounding like a grab for the OneRepublic sound, manages to be quite a great pop song. It's been in my head a lot lately, although I still find K'naan's rap at the end to be a bit out of place. "Clear Skies" gives us the biggest dose of guitar ever from Keane, with an acoustic one prominently featured among the layers of keyboard, bass and beats (including claps). It's an interesting song; different for them.

"Ishen Denshin (You've Got to Help Yourself)" sounds very much like '80s-style Pet Shop Boys pop, bumping along with its jaunty synth bass beat. It also features Japanese female vocalist Tigarah. All this shifting duty at the mic even gives another Keane man besides Tom Chaplin a turn at lead vocal. Yes, that's keyboardist/songwriter "Tim Rice-Oxley" doing the duty on "Your Love," another '80s-sounding synth-based pop song, although moodier and darker than "Ishen Denshin."

"Looking Back" uses a really cheesy sample--the theme from the movie Rocky--but I think it actually works really great in this upbeat piano-based song, which also features rapper K'naan. "My Shadow" is probably the most traditionally Keane-sounding song here, a lovely piano ballad that nicely closes this mini album.

While a full new album might have been nice, I certainly don't mind getting an EP if it means the band is focused on producing their best work, and Night Train lives up to the quality of previous Keane material. It doesn't hit any dizzying heights, but I do like the band's willingness to push themselves into some new sounds while still showing a knack for what they do best.

Best: Stop for a Minute, Looking Back, Your Love, My Shadow