Strangeland (album)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Strangeland
Studio album by Keane

Publication
(s)

May 4, 2012

admission

2011–2012

Label (s) Island Records , Interscope Records

Format (s)

CD, download, LP

Genre (s)

Alternative rock , pop rock

Title (number)

12

running time

45:08 min.

occupation Tom Chaplin
Tim Rice-Oxley
Richard David Hughes

production

Dan Grech-Marguerat, Keane

Studio (s)

Sea Fog Studios
RAK Studios
AIR Lyndhurst Hall

chronology
Perfect Symmetry
(2008) 		Strangeland The Best Of
(2013)
Single releases
March 13, 2012 Silenced By The Night
April 17, 2012 Disconnencted
July 23, 2012 Sovereign Light Café

Strangeland (German "Fremdes Land") is the fourth studio album by the English band Keane and was released on May 4, 2012. In Great Britain and Ireland , the album made it to the top of the charts in the first week, while in Germany it reached fifth place.

Background information

After Keane released their first EP with Night Train in 2010 , the first compositions for a new studio album were created in the same year. Since the last, rather experimental album, Perfect Symmetry, did not bring the desired success, the band decided musically to reconnect with the familiar sounds of the first two albums. According to pianist Tim Rice-Oxley, they wanted to devote less time to the production of the tracks and more time to be able to invest in songwriting . From May 2011, Keane worked with the English producer Dan Grech-Marguerat on new titles, which they recorded at Sea Fog Studios, RAK Studios and AIR Lyndhurst Hall by early 2012 . The bassist Jesse Quin, who has been supporting the band since 2008, officially became the fourth member of the band in 2011 and was thus also involved in the recording.

Musically, the album is based on British piano pop / rock. Although singer Tom Chaplin is accompanied by guitar in some songs, Tim Rice-Oxley's semi-acoustic grand piano Yamaha CP80 is again the defining instrument. Similar to their second album Under the Iron Sea , different effects devices such as distortion and flanger were combined to create the typical sound for the band. However, the general sound changed compared to the previous albums, which is due to the collaboration with producer Grech-Marguerat. Good examples of this are songs like Silenced by the Night or You Are Young . The title Black Rain also includes sounds that come from the Asian region. According to Rice-Oxley, the title was inspired by the anti-war film Waltz With Bashir and is emblematic of the entire album, with which the band tries to understand things around them from a very human point of view. In an interview with NME Magazine , Tim Rice-Oxley compares the album to an adventure in which the aim is to discover the new and the unexpected.

The photo for the album cover was taken by Alex Lake and shows a pebble beach against a blue horizon. After Keane had created new fonts for Under the Iron Sea and Perfect Symmetry , they are now using Chochin LT again, the font that was also used for the first album. In addition to the standard version, a deluxe edition of the album was also released, which contains four additional titles, videos with live recordings and other background material. The Strangeland Tour began on March 9, 2012 and is expected to end on December 8, 2012 with the UR1 Festival in Miami .

Reviews

The album got average reviews. Most of the critics focused on the fact that Keane found their way back to their old strength with Strangeland and at the same time were able to show new sides. So it says at CDStarts : “Everything was composed completely by themselves, as always, they ( Keane ) wanted to perform together with producer Dan Grech-Marguerat ( The Kooks , Hurts ) 'Back to the roots', that is, piano pop of the best quality variety. Will that succeed? Yes, because what Keane present is pop music that touches and entertains, so a particularly good combination. If you like by listening to what you should definitely make more often, are the tracks, there is no doubt that Keane again hold her mercilessly high level and twelve remarkable pop gems have created. "
The Rolling Stone Magazine describes a similar view:" That the The piano, which dominated the early days, was pushed back to the front edge of the stage […], and above it - Keane-east knows that, of course - chain-breaking melodies and euphoric refrains. The fourth album beats its predecessors by far, and Keane once again claim to be 'the thinking man's Coldplay '. "

Track list

Standard version (2012)

  1. You Are Young (Tim Rice-Oxley, Tom Chaplin, Richard David Hughes, Jesse Quin) - 3:35
  2. Silenced by the Night (Rice-Oxley, Chaplin, Hughes, Quin) - 3:16
  3. Disconnected (Rice-Oxley, Chaplin, Hughes, Quin) - 3:57
  4. Watch How You Go (Rice-Oxley, Chaplin, Hughes, Quin) - 3:40
  5. Sovereign Light Café (Rice-Oxley, Chaplin, Hughes, Quin) - 3:38
  6. On the Road (Rice-Oxley, Chaplin, Hughes, Quin) - 3:56
  7. The Starting Line (Rice-Oxley, Chaplin, Hughes, Quin) - 4:12
  8. Black Rain (Rice-Oxley, Chaplin, Hughes, Quin) - 3:46
  9. Neon River (Rice-Oxley, Chaplin, Hughes, Quin) - 4:52
  10. Day Will Come (Rice-Oxley, Chaplin, Hughes, Quin) - 3:11
  11. In Your Own Time (Rice-Oxley, Chaplin, Hughes, Quin) - 3:43
  12. Sea Fog (Rice-Oxley, Chaplin, Hughes, Quin) - 3:25
  13. Strangeland (Rice-Oxley, Chaplin, Hughes, Quin) - 4:36 [Deluxe Edition, Japanese Edition]
  14. Run with Me (Rice-Oxley, Chaplin, Hughes, Quin) - 3:30 [Deluxe Edition, Japanese Edition]
  15. The Boys (Rice-Oxley, Chaplin, Hughes, Quin) - 3:33 [Deluxe Edition, Japanese Edition]
  16. It's Not True (Rice-Oxley, Chaplin, Hughes, Quin) - 3:49 [Deluxe Edition, Japanese Edition]
  17. Myth (Rice-Oxley, Chaplin, Hughes, Quin) - 4:55 [Japanese Edition]

Bonus DVD

Videos

  1. Album trailer 1 - 2:25 [Deluxe Edition]
  2. Album trailer 2 - 2:27 [Deluxe Edition]

Other extras

  2. Photo documentation [Deluxe Edition]
  3. Silenced By the Night (Acoustic) - 3:19 [Deluxe Edition]
  4. The Starting Line (Acoustic) - 4:16 [Deluxe Edition]
  5. Sovereign Light Café (Acoustic) - 3:38 [Deluxe Edition]
  6. Disconnected (Acoustic) - 4:02 [Deluxe Edition]
  7. Watch How You Go (Acoustic) - 3:51 [Deluxe Edition]

Chart placements

Charts Top ranking Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK) Germany (GfK) 5 (6 weeks) 6th
Austria (Ö3) Austria (Ö3) 20th (4 weeks) 4th
Switzerland (IFPI) Switzerland (IFPI) 3 (12 weeks) 12
United Kingdom (OCC) United Kingdom (OCC) 1 (26 weeks) 26th
United States (Billboard) United States (Billboard) 17th (4 weeks) 4th

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ officialcharts.com Chart placement of the album in Great Britain
  2. ↑ chart-track.co.uk Chart placement of the album in Ireland
  3. ↑ officialcharts.de Chart placement of the album in Germany
  4. ↑ keanemusic.com ( Memento of the original from November 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Interview about Strangeland from NME Magazine @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.keanemusic.com
  5. ↑ officialcharts.de Official announcement of the new band member Jesse Quin
  6. ↑ keanemusic.com ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Tim Rice-Oxley on the title Black Rain @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.keanemusic.com
  7. ↑ nme.com Tim Rice-Oxley on Strangeland in NME Magazine
  8. ↑ keanemusic.com ( Memento of the original from November 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Official premiere of the album cover @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.keanemusic.com
  9. ↑ criticism. CDStarts; Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  10. ↑ criticism. Rolling Stone Magazine ; Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  11. ↑ a b c d e Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US