Keane came in to the Q Radio studios to play the tracks that have helped to shape and inspire them musically. Each member of the band – who released new single The Lovers Are Losing on Tuesday, October 28, at 9pm - chose songs by three other artists to give an idea of their varied influences.
You can read edited highlights of what they said about the tracks below but to hear the full interviews and the tracks the band played, tune in to the Keane Jukebox programme on Tuesday October 28 at 9pm.
Tim Rice-Oxley’s choices:
Talking Heads - Once In A Lifetime
“It was particularly influential in the making of Perfect Symmetry for many reasons really. I think especially because very few bands, especially white indie bands, have ever managed to harness a really driving and funky groove to great song-writing. It’s a very difficult thing to do without sounding very cheesy or totally awkward. They’ve done that better than anyone ever really. For me, ‘Remain in Light’ is one of those records which reveals more and more with each listen. I keep hearing new little parts that interweave with each other every time I listen to it. ‘Once in a Lifetime’ especially, I often drive along, it’s permanently in my car, and I drive along and I play it incredibly loudly and when I get to where I’m going, I listened to it a lot actually when we were working in Sussex on the album and I’d get to the studio and pull up and feel slightly depressed because it seems like such a monstrously brilliant piece of work that you think, ‘how can I ever match that’? But it’s great to have those benchmarks to aim for, it pushes you to try and do things better.”
Rufus Wainwright - Greek Song
“Rufus is someone who I totally worship as a songwriter. I remember when I first got into his music a few years ago, I put on the album that this song is from, an album called Poses, which was his second record and I remember hearing this song for the first time and it was so melodically bold and brilliant that I was confused. I had to listen to it about five times in a row just to try and understand what was going on. For me that song takes me back to when I was travelling around Greece with Richard back in 1995 or something. Those beautiful scenes that Rufus conjures up about cruising along on his motorbike and you can just see the mountains and the olive groves, this incredible romantic vision of being free. He contrasts it with some more brutal things in his life.”
U2 - Ultraviolet
“I think people in bands live in fear of citing U2 as an influence because they’re such a massive band and it’s a bit like saying we were influenced by the Beatles or something, it’s just totally uncool. For me, I think U2 are the greatest band of all time … because of their phenomenal standard of song-writing and sonic experimentation over such a long period. They’ve definitely been a huge influence for us. This album in particular, Achtung Baby!, was the one that really turned me onto them. That groove and the African rhythms and the dark synth and guitar stuff. Also, by the fact that they were brave enough to totally change their direction which bands really rarely do.There are many many great songs on it and I love every song on the album, but Ultraviolet is a magical, transporting song that has this grand operatic tragedy to it but is also an incredibly uplifting pop song.”
[Return to Richard Hughes's choices]
You can hear the programme here
3:35 PM | 21/10/2008
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