Tim Rice-Oxley could be lying on a beach in Barbados right now with a cocktail in his sunburnt hand. The word ‘holiday’ means little to him. As Keane enjoy some much deserved downtime after a cycle of relentless touring and recording, that spawned four out of four number one records in six years, Tim is preparing to hit the road again. This time, without Keane.
“One night we [himself and Jesse Quinn] were sat in a bar in Dublin having a few drinks. After a few, somehow the conversation got onto country music. Somewhere in the conversation, we came up with the ridiculous idea of writing some country music. A year later, we’ve got an album ready for release and we’re just about to start a tour.”
“It was a very fast process, we made the whole thing in a month, and most of the songs were done within the first two weeks. Before Keane released the Night Train E.P. we had a natural break before touring that, so we just got the whole record done then.”
”Keane’s always going to be our top priority but writing the Mt. Desolation record was really fun. I’m very proud of this record and I think I’ve been playing at my best on it. It’s just a really refreshing way of working without pressure.”
Keane shot to fame in 2004 with their debut album Hopes and Fears. The album has been certified a staggering 9x platinum, the equivalent to over 2.7 million copies sold within the U.K. alone. Mt. Desolation will provide Tim and Jesse with an excuse to play more intimate venues. The tour includes Tuesday’s gig at Newcastle Academy 2.
“We’re really excited to get back into the smaller and more intimate venues on this tour. I love the feeling of being in there close up, getting sweaty and hanging around in the bar with everyone after the show. At an arena show you can’t really do that; everything’s a lot more formal.”
“There’s six of us on stage in the shows with a lot of chemistry between us. The band feels tight, fresh and because most of the songs are unheard of they’re exciting to play.”
Side projects are a regular feature in many artists’ lives as they try and channel their creativity into new areas. As a relentless musician, Tim wants to try his hand at many different genres during his career.
“I’m not a great respecter of genres and musical snobbery. If I had my way then I’d probably be trying to make albums of every genre. I don’t know yet whether Mt. Desolation will become the umbrella for that. It’d be pretty cool to have a series of Desolation albums, with a new genre every time though. Maybe that will happen and the name will become a concept.”
Despite a fast and low-key recording, the self-titled record features collaborations with a host of musicians, most notably with The Killers drummer Ronnie Vannucci and Winston Marshall of Mumford & Sons.
“We wanted to get a few of our musical friends to come in and play a few pieces. The Killers are taking a break like we are at the moment and so Ronnie wanted to come in and drum on a couple of tracks. It shows just how organic the writing and recording of the record was. Hopefully that will come across to people when they listen to it.”
Mt. Desolation (the album) is released on October 18th on Island Records. The band is currently on tour and play Newcastle Academy 2 on Tuesday 14th Sept. Tickets are priced at £10 and can be purchased from box office or through www.ticketweb.co.uk.
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