British Band Keane Moving to America

In a bid to change their image, British band, Keane, have decided to move to the United States.  I’m pretty disappointed, to be honest.  They are unique partly because of where they are from but also because they are comprised of just a singer, piano and the drums (no guitar, no bass unless you count digitized forms on the occasional song).

image: Amazon.com

Apparently, they feel that their music isn’t being taken seriously and they want to be with celebrity fans like Gwen Stefani and Kanye West.  Lead singer Tom Chaplin said: “It’s amazing how far and wide our music has reached with other artists, especially in America.  There’s less stigma attached to us, like all of the things we have been lumbered with in Britain. Being posh etc etc – annoying things that have nothing to do with how we sound.  Over there they make judgements solely on the music so we have these cool people and we should have some exciting collaborations coming soon.”

Honestly, Tom needs a wakeup call because Americans do not form the basis of their opinions solely on the music.  Looks matter (and Tom has been ridiculed for his “fat face”), among other things.  I realize that their last album (Perfect Symmetry) wasn’t great or that well-received but Under the Iron Sea and especially Hopes and Fears were excellent and really popular.  I don’t know if this is the right solution to their problems but I hope it all works out for them.  I think they are immensely talented and I would hate for them to damage their relationship with the British fans who helped launched their career.