Single Review: Keane – ‘Won’t Be Broken’
2 min read
Everyone likes Keane, even if they say they don’t, they do. Kind of like when people say they don’t like Coldplay; the band themselves might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it would be hard to argue that the music isn’t expertly crafted and instantly catchy.
And so here we are 10 years after Keane released their debut album Hopes and Fears, with The Best of Keane recently doing the rounds in the charts showing how to write a great pop song. Amongst the many hits such as Somewhere Only We Know and Everybody’s Changing sits new single Won’t be Broken, happily content to at the end of the album with Keane safe in the knowledge they can still bang out a nice little ditty with the best of them.
Sounding more akin to the Keane of the early days rather than the 80s tinged recent efforts, Won’t be broken seems to take us on a trip of lead singer Tom Chaplin’s battles with addiction which saw him end up in The Priory clinic in 2006. He’s allowed to open up on this track about it with lyrics such as “I feel knocked down but I won’t be broken” showing he’s come through the other side stronger and more determined.
With its typical Keane piano hooks and Tom’s distinctive and recognisable voice, it’s a track that feels familiar, but maybe lacking in that extra bit of creativity to help it stand out amongst the classics on a ‘best of’ album. Keane are one of those bands that we tend to forget these days, and this is a nice reminder of how they are doing. Hopefully they’ll be sticking around and bring out an album of new material soon.
