One of the most successful British debuts of the century, Keane’s Hopes and Fears celebrates its 20thanniversary this month. To mark the occasion, the band’s chief songwriter Tim Rice-Oxley joins Headliner to reflect on how it has changed their lives, their formative years, and the role of notorious record producer and exec Jimmy Iovine in taking their music across the Atlantic.
On May 10, Keane will mark the 20th anniversary of their debut album Hopes and Fears with a special remastered version of the record, loaded with a raft of demos, outtakes, and alternate versions spread across three discs. On the same night, they headline the O2 in London, in what promises to be an emotional evening for the UK outfit, as they celebrate not only the towering success of their maiden outing, but also the fact that two decades on they are able to commemorate it together on the biggest of stages.
Almost one month to the day in advance, Headliner is granted an audience with Keane’s chief songwriter Tim Rice-Oxley during a rare moment of quiet time for a chat about all things Hopes and Fears. Joining us via Zoom, he is currently sitting in a hotel room in Guadalajara, where the band have been performing a handful of shows in preparation for their UK run.
“We’ve just finished a little run of shows out here, which has been amazing,” he informs us. We had a brief excursion to India and South Africa for festivals to warm us up a bit. The first proper bit of the Hopes and Fearsanniversary tour has been here in Mexico, which has been insane. It’s a bit like being in The Beatles [laughs]. It’s all taking shape and we’re getting the setlist nailed down.”
The type of reaction Keane continue to receive not just in their homeland but around the world can be attributed in no small part to the legacy of their 2004 debut. Which is not to diminish the critical and commercial heights they have scaled with their four subsequent albums. To date they have sold over 13 million records worldwide and sold out tours across the globe. With Hopes and Fears, however, they produced one of the most successful debut albums of their generation.
Topping the UK album charts upon its release, it was the second best-selling album in the country in 2004 and has since been certified nine times platinum. Worldwide it has sold some 5.8 million copies as of 2019 and ranks as the 11th best-selling album of the 2000s. it also spawned a number of huge international singles, such as Somewhere Only We Know, Everybody’s Changing, and Bedshaped.