After a long spell out of the limelight, Keane are back with their much-anticipated fourth album Strangeland. Linda Jobling talks to drummer Richard Hughes about their ‘most personal and honest record yet’

WHAT was the inspiration behind Strangeland and where did the title come from?

The name comes from a song called Strangeland that Tim wrote, about a couple going off on a road trip adventure and finding it not necessarily going to plan. You can actually find the Strangeland song on YouTube at the moment – it’s one of the bonus tracks for the record. For the sound we just wanted to make sure that we really connected emotionally as directly with listeners as possible. That’s what Keane have always done best.

One song, Sovereign Light Cafe, is a tribute to an old favourite haunt of yours. What was your favourite food or drink there?

We just used to go in and warm up with a cup of tea. Tim and I used to cycle to the beach in Bexhill and it was never quite as warm as Baywatch, or indeed as glamorous, so yeah, we’d retreat with a cup of tea inside there before heading home.

Why choose to start your UK tour this month in smaller venues?

We just wanted to get out and play some gigs in familiar places that we’ve been to many times. We’ve been to Newcastle six times, and we know the crowds are going to be good and we’re going to have a great time. I suppose there’s a chance we might do another tour or some more festivals into next year but we just wanted to get out there and do a quick lap of the UK.

Are there any songs which are going to be quite a challenge to play live?

Fortunately for us, Tom is just a ridiculously amazing, naturally gifted singer, but for the rest of us, we are playing better than we’ve ever played, and we’ve got our bass player Jesse now, and he has really helped toughen up the sound when we play live. I always feel like we’re on the verge of disaster, but that’s part of the fun, that’s live music.

Do you have any ‘must-haves’ on the tour bus?

We tend to watch a few TV shows or films. It’s good to watch films or good stand-up comedy, it always helps while away the first hour on the tour bus.

What’s the craziest thing that’s happened while performing?

Well I nearly got killed by the lighting rail at one show. They were on these weird sort of towers which just buckled and gave way and it was like a half a ton or something. I felt the impact of it just behind where my drums were and then there was a bang and a crash and I saw a drum tech running on stage to try and stop anything else from falling down, so that was quite dramatic.

If you had to give up music, what would you do to be creative?

Photography. I always take photos when we’re on the road and I tend to put up a blog of where we’ve been on our website. I do that anyway so I’d carry on taking lots of photos.

If you were to design an item of merchandise for the band, what would it be?

I like the traditional stuff like fridge magnets, but maybe some signature drumsticks would be good? Actually, you know what, put one of my photos on a T-shirt. That would keep us all busy after sound-check I think, ironing the photos onto the T-shirts.

Is there anyone you would love to meet?

There are loads of people – most of them drummers. I’m sitting in my spare bedroom and there’s a photo of Ringo up on the wall. We were very lucky, we met Paul McCartney when he played in Glasgow a year or so ago and that was amazing, but obviously for me, as a drummer, I would love to meet Ringo one day.

As a band, is there anything you would still like to accomplish? What are your hopes for the future?

I’d love to do a massive Saturday night festival, sort of headline thing and just get everyone up and singing along. We’ve done a few massive festival shows and there’s nothing like getting a big crowd singing along with you, so a big UK festival would be fun. One of these days we’ll get to do that, and I can’t wait.

May 23 – Newcastle 02 Academy