Keane will for ever be synonymous with their 2004 smash Somewhere Only We Know, an almost unbearably twee rush of bucolic sentimentality that earned them a reputation as the milquetoast Coldplay. Yet as the East Sussex foursome return with their first album in seven years, it’s clear that they are no longer the paragons of nicey-niceness they once seemed. Cause and Effect sees the band complete the transition from innocence to experience, producing a collection of mid-life crisis tales that leave rather a bitter taste.
Sonically, at least, the record sees the group preserve all the anodyne markers of their original iteration – still present is the watered-down, politely jaunty indie with choruses that swell irresistibly with non-specific emotion, while eternally cherubic frontman Tom Chaplin continues to veer between his rousing mid-range bellow and cut-glass falsetto. Lyrically, however, it’s a different story: Cause and Effect is a warts-and-all document of the demise of a long-term relationship. There are gut-punching accounts of the loneliness, regret and sharp shock of leaving the family home, yet sometimes the brutal honesty serves to alienate – such as on Stupid Things, which details our hero’s reckless behaviour, marital deception and his negligence of fatherly duties. The album ends with a skip in its step thanks to a new romance, though it’s hard to feel a huge amount of goodwill. It may not make for the most comfortable listen, but Cause and Effect at least proves Keane are able to channel emotional states that are knottier and more compelling than that of their insipid early successes.
