Hopes and Fears was a landmark album for Keane and has set all kinds of records in the process. It’s one of the best selling albums in UK chart history having sold over 2.5 million in the UK in its first year, and a million in the USA propelled by their absolutely classic song ‘Somewhere Only We Know’. ‘Hopes and Fears’ is 9x platinum in the UK, a remarkable achievement. The album has sold over 10 million copies worldwide.
Keane emerged alongside a new vanguard of bands that would change the shape of music: Snow Patrol, Scissor sisters, the Killers and Coldplay. They were the first to create a sound solely revolving around keyboards which enhanced the emotional pull of their songs. ‘Everybody’s Changing’ from ‘Hopes and Fears’ became a fan favourite and a top five hit.
In 2004 Keane were the biggest selling British artist in the UK. The following year they won two BRIT Awards: Best British Album for ‘Hopes and Fears’ and British Breakthrough act award as voted for by Radio 1 listeners.
‘Somewhere Only We Know’ has enjoyed a recent revival on Tik Tok going viral in Indonesia which lit the spark for a global renaissance of the track which is currently clocking up two million Spotify streams a day, and in the past 12 months has become Island Records’ biggest selling single. In total it has been streamed over a billion times.
