Hopes And Fears (Gatefold LP)

Cool is not important. Neither are guitars. Nor bass. All that matters is honesty, emotion, passion. Universal themes of unrequited love, taking comfort and strength from memories, learning that it's better to have loved and lost. Falsetto vocals, graceful piano that builds to a thunderous climax, swirling electronic beats and soaring chorus after soaring chorus. Keane are this year's chart-crashing choirboys.`

It has been a fairytale 12 months for the boys from Battle, in Sussex who formed the band in 1997. For a while they were like any other indie quartet. Then the guitarist left in 2001, thinking the band would never make it. The remaining members decided not to audition for another guitarist; instead they played around with keyboards and computers, looking for a new sound. Finally they settled on the piano, which fitted perfectly with the introspective lyrics.

Last May, the small but influential label Fierce Panda released Keane's debut single, the lush, imposing 'Everybody's Changing' (due for re-release next month). It is not irrelevant that Fierce Panda was also responsible for discovering Coldplay; Keane's melancholic piano rock is not dissimilar. In September, by the time Fierce Panda released the band's second single, the relatively upbeat 'This Is The Last Time', Keane had already signed to a major label.

Keane didn't care about being an indie band; the mainstream was theirs for the taking and they were ecstatic when their first major label single, the achingly romantic 'Somewhere Only We Know', crashed into the charts at no 3 in February. And with their debut album, Hopes And Fears, they prove it's possible to make an impact without guitar or bass.

Baby-faced singer Tom Chaplin looks as though he may barely have kissed a girl, yet he sings with the raw emotion of one whose heart has been broken countless times. His cracked, sensitive vocals work their way through one heartbroken song after another, and given time the songs begin to gain identity: 'Sunshine' is an incredibly tender song with a swirling Sixties feel; 'Untitled 1' is a low-key soundscape; 'Your Eyes Open' is a simple but elegant love song.Its lyrics epitomise pianist Tom Rice-Oxley's ability as main songwriter to write from the most vulnerable place: 'Morning comes and you don't want to know me anymore'.
The Observer.