Rating: NNN
It’s almost impossible to get past voice boy Tom Chaplin’s similarity to Travis songbird Fran Healy. It’s exactly the same sort of nuanced gutsy whine, the same powerful hanging yelps. Not that that’s a bad thing. It worked well for Travis and their particular ilk of boisterous folk-pop pensiveness. It also works very well for Keane’s boisterous folk-pop pensiveness. The thing is, it’s disturbing to listen to Hopes And Fears. If it actually were a Travis album you could enjoy it and not fret about the body-snatcher effect. But it’s not. It’s Keane’s debut. So you’re left with a dilemma. Does the doppelganger thing make the album less listenable? The answer is no, not really. It’s still spooky, though.
Keane play the Mod Club Theatre Tuesday (June 15).
