Musical Style and Themes
Tim Rice-Oxley and Dominic Scott were the main writers of the band's songs during their early years. When Scott left in 2002, Rice-Oxley became the main composer. However, Rice-Oxley credits the rest of the band on all compositions, so that royalties for song credits are shared.
The band has been known as "the band with no guitars", because of its heavily piano-based sound. By using delay and distortion effects on their piano sound, they often create sounds that aren't immediately recognisable as piano. Rice-Oxley said during an interview in Los Angeles that they tend to think piano-related music is boring and what they really wanted to do was try something different. He referred to the piano as an odd instrument to form part of a rock band instrumentation, comparing it to The Beatles' set of instruments. Rice-Oxley's distortion piano has been key to most of Keane's multifaceted style, varying from Hip Hop on "Dirtylicious" to house on "Tyderian".
During their early years most songs were about love or broken relationships (most notably "She Has No Time" and "On a Day Like Today"). However, other themes — including the relationship between Rice-Oxley and Chaplin — have emerged in more recent compositions. Other themes have been explored; for example, "Is It Any Wonder?" and "A Bad Dream" are both about war. More recent themes have included the impact of being a celebrity in "Better Than This" and "Clear Skies" and criticism of religious violence in "Perfect Symmetry".
Keane have covered songs by artists such as U2, Rufus Wainwright, Depeche Mode, Genesis, The Beatles, The Cult and Queen with Tim saying: "I guess it's classic song writing that is the main influence rather than one band in particular – we love people like Nick Drake who can convey so much emotion and write songs and albums that will be loved and cherished for many years – the things that will be in people's record collections for their whole lives."
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