Forest of Keane

SUSSEX trio Keane can now lay claim to being one of the biggest bands in the world. But as the band’s singer Tom Chaplin and drummer Richard Hughes sit down, the pair don’t give any hint that they know that.

‘‘We’re not really into posturing,’’ says Chaplin, while Hughes, when it’s mentioned that the band’s new EP, The Night Train, contains some of their best songs, simply leans forward and says: ‘‘Tell everyone you know, would you?’’.

Keane have received criticism over the years for their private school background and perfect manners. In reality, however, the band’s polite ways are a welcome break from pop posturing.

The Night Train EP, follows just 18 months after their last album proper, Perfect Symmetry which, in today’s world where artists generally take three or four years to follow up an album, is like lightning.

Chaplin says that following the EP release comes a ten-date tour; a mixture of arenas and large shows in assorted forests across the UK which includes North Yorkshire’s Dalby forest on June 25.

‘‘Trust me, that is taking it easy compared to if we’d released a full album,’’ says Chaplin.

‘‘We actually did more tracks that aren’t on the EP. We didn’t want to release a full album as we would have had to go on the road for 18 months to promote it. In a way, this EP is borne out of laziness.’’ There goes that self-effacing streak again.

‘‘We’re looking forward to the forest tour, though,’’ he says.

‘‘Bedgebury Forest in Kent is somewhere my mum used to go to and would drag me along and make me learn the names of the trees.

‘‘Maybe that could be my patter between songs. ’That, everybody, is a Scots pine...’, and so on. Maybe not. I think this will be enough for everyone for a while,’’ Chaplin adds, changing the subject. ‘‘I think it’d be nice to have a break, completely. For a while, at least.’’ The band’s third album, Perfect Symmetry, changed a lot of opinions about Keane. Chaplin says: ‘‘It was a step in a different direction for Keane, and introduced a lot of people who’d never heard of us to our music.

It opened a few doors for us too, that last record. And now this slightly illogical step...’’ Unlike Keane’s three albums which have all involved spending months in a studio - for the last album, they decamped to Berlin for a few months - The Night Train was recorded while they were on tour.

‘‘Inspired by all parts of the world,’’ says Hughes. ‘‘South America, largely, but everywhere. The EP is the flipside of touring for a year, where each night we’d play a song that we’d had for years. Writing and recording on the road meant that we could be creative.

‘‘You know, you go on the road and play your songs, and it’s easy to trick yourself into thinking that you’re doing something creative, but actually you’re just playing through things you’ve done before. In reality you can go 18 months without writing a new note. We wanted to keep the creativity going and record new things, so visited studios around the world, and we found ourselves full of ideas,’’ he says.

‘‘We did days in studios in South America, Australia, Denmark, all over Germany, everywhere,’’ adds Chaplin, both indicating the wide reach of Keane’s last tour and the freedom afforded to the modern rock star.

Collaborations play a major part in the EP too, most notably the two tracks recorded with Somalian rapper K’Naan.

‘‘The first time I’d heard of K’Naan was when we were doing an interview and Tom mentioned him in a Tracks Of The Year-type list he was doing,’’ says Hughes.

‘‘K’Naan then mentioned he liked Keane in an interview, so we thought we’d see what happened if we went into the studio together. Three songs came out in three days, and two of them are on the EP.’’ ‘‘One of the songs, Stop For A Minute, was on a loop for ages and ages while he worked out the lyrics in his head.’’ says Chaplin, laughing. ‘‘It was on for hours, driving us mad, but then he just walked up to the microphone and laid down his track.’’ ‘‘I must admit I’d retreated to the living room by that point,’’ adds Hughes, dryly.

When the idea of a new full album is floated, the pair clam up, careful not to commit themselves to anything. There will of course be another album, they just don’t know when.

KEANE - EXTRA TIME ■ At 31, Tom Chaplin is the youngest member of Keane. Tim Rice-Oxley is 33, while Richard Hughes is 34.

■ The band take their name from Cherry Keane, the mother of a mutual friend and were even called that for a time, but dropped the Cherry from their name in 1998 ■ Keane release The Night Train EP this and play at Dalby Forest, near Pickering, North Yorkshire, on June 25. Tickets: £32. Box Office: 01842- 814612 forestry.gov.uk/music or keanemusic.com