Dialing it down

At what point do all British bands begin to sound alike?
My special friend recently surprised me with a copy of the new Keane album, Under the iron sea. Upon listening, it was evident that U2, Coldplay, Radiohead and even Robbie Williams were the primary influences here. The opening track was exciting, pretty, even soaring. Sadly, this enthusiasm could not be sustained throughout. There was a lot of hype in the music press about this albums' release, as it was meant to be a departure for the lads, treading on a darker side, more introspective and political. Wrong! It's somewhat reminiscent of their debut, but without the strong melodies and anchoring of a piano, that Hopes & Fears had managed at the time. I found it frustrating how it's completely over produced. There are only (in my opinion) three stand out tracks on this cd. The opener (which I mentioned already) called Atlantic, track three Nothing in my way and six, Hamburg Song. These aside, the songs this time round, as my Saturday friend put it, are OTT beyond belief. They lack emotion and lyrically struggle to find words that rhyme. We're forced to listen to tracks like Leaving So Soon and Crystal Ball, that are horribly sickly sweet and kind of leave you feeling queasy. I felt like I was listening to Jack Wild of H R Pufn' Stuff.

This offering is mostly dreadful, mostly.