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As a transitional release, however, Night Train points to an even bigger and brighter future: it mostly sounds like a band happy to enjoy the freedom of chalking up 10 million album sales, and everyone else can take a running jump.
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'Night Train' has been pitched as somewhere between an EP and a mini album, with the impending fifth to be the "proper" follow up to 'Perfect Symmetry'. For their sake, but mostly for our own, this gifted band need to try a lot harder when it comes to that one.
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Like a modern empowered woman, Keane are obsessed with ‘having it all’. Juggling a career, great hair and kids equates for them to making safe, dowdy AOR while giving the finger to those who call them safe, dowdy AOR.
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No matter what their exteriors, Keane still seem incapable of anything other than the most heavy-handed gestures, peddling the same populist mock uplift that leaves you feeling pushed when it's meant to move.
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Chaplin, Rice-Oxley and drummer Richard Hughes, chased down something different while still remaining true to their former records. Not only does it work, it provides a valuable lesson for bands that are far too afraid of taking risks.
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That toughening process continues on this intrepid eight-song mini-album.
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It’s all very eclectic and a bit unexpected -- two qualities that seem to be Keane’s modus operandi as of late -- but what’s missing is a pop anthem along the lines of “Again and Again” or “Bend and Break,” both of which allowed Tom Chaplin to flex his vocal chops on past albums.
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The band can still deliver the angsty goods (check out the gusty "My Shadow"), but Keane have proved themselves masters of--gasp!--pop perkiness.
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The music's catchy, sure, and this time round it's undeniably uplifting in both tone and substance, but there's precious little about Night Train that's surprising enough to elevate it out of the realm of song-of-the-moment radio pop.
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Night Train derails due to a lack of the hooks and melodies that made anyone listen to Keane in the first place. The record comes across as less of a change in direction than a full-on identity crisis.
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On Night Train their knack for earworm melodies is hard to fault, but between rap breakdowns from K'Naan and the odd techno noodlings, it can be tough to tell who's at the wheel.
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Whatever the conceit for releasing only eight songs—perhaps they didn’t have enough material or were just eager to release these particular eight tracks—Keane serves up a concise, competent follow-up to Perfect Symmetry (2008).
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Q MagazineThe eight tracks and 31 minutes of the Night Train EP/mini-album, recorded during the Pefect Symmetry tour, should sate the faithful. [Jun 2100, p.127]
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Alternative PressOverall, Keane's efforts to move beyond pigeonholing succeed more than they fail. [Jun 2010, p.107]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 29 out of 49
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Mixed: 13 out of 49
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Negative: 7 out of 49
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Sep 24, 2010
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May 26, 2018Incredible album. One of the best album of all time. Better than all Coldplay's albums
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Feb 26, 2017