Something I’ve noticed recently is that several bands seem to be stealing something from the excellent British band Coldplay (whose lead singer Chris Martin is Mr. Gwyneth Paltrow, of course): the piano intro. You can hear one, for example, in one of my favourite Coldplay songs, Clocks (from their 2nd album A Rush of Blood to the Head). Currently there are two songs where I’m like “Oh, great, Coldplay … no, wait a minute, it’s not them at all, or is it?” when I hear them on the radio. The first one is I Still by the Backstreet Boys. The other one is Celice (sp?) by A-ha. Both are good songs, but I just don’t like other bands ripping off one of Coldplay’s trademarks. It’s a cheap trick. (Hee, that’s a band name!)
Now you might say: “Wait, she’s talking about copying Coldplay! She can’t do that without mentioning Keane, who are the biggest Coldplay rip-offs (if that’s a word)!” Keane are a three-piece British band who do sound a bit like Coldplay because they use a lot of piano in their songs, too, but I like them, so I won’t hold that against them. Their singer Tom Chaplin always makes me smile because he’s got a cherub-face, i.e. he looks like one of those slightly fat angels you can see in old paintings. Or you could say he looks a little like a hobbit. And he makes strange moves on stage, which can look funny, too. Cute. Keane’s keyboard player Tim Rice-Oxley (very posh-sounding English name, BTW) is very attractive. But to my defense, I must say I didn’t know what any of them looked like when I first heard their music on the radio (at the end of 2004 that was, I think). I’d post a picture of Keane to illustrate what I’m talking about, but I don’t have one at the moment. So I’ll recommend this Austrian fan page instead. As to their songs, I can recommend all the songs they released as singles from their first album Hopes and Fears: Somewhere Only We Know, This Is The Last Time, and Everybody’s Changing. I love the lyrics of the latter one especially. Track 3 off the album, Bend and Break, is fantastic, too. I hope their second album will come out soon.
While I’m talking about music, I’d also like to mention someone else I like: Natasha Bedingfield. Her connection to Keane is that she did a great version of their song Somewhere Only We Know on an English radio station once (I think an MP3 file of that can be found at the Austrian site I mentioned). She’s from New Zealand (I think) and her brother Daniel is a singer, too. He had a song a couple of years ago that I love, If You’re Not the One. Haven’t heard much from him since, although I do think he has a new album out now. His sister had her break-through last year with her first album Unwritten. The title track is excellent and the video to it is beautiful, too. The song starts like this:
I am unwritten
Can’t read my mind
I’m undefined
I’m just beginning
The pen’s in my hand
Ending unplanned
In other words, the song kind of looks at life as a book, and, being someone who loves books, I like that idea very much.
Another great song of hers is Wild Horses, the last track on the album (if you don’t count the hidden track that follows). I only really noticed that song recently when I was sitting on a train listening to music on my discman (no, I don’t have an iPod or any other kind of MP3-player, how very old-fashioned of me, right?). The song is about feeling stuck and wanting to change one’s life, but being scared to take risks. The lyrics totally hit a nerve with me and I almost started crying, but the train had just stopped so there was noise and people were walking past so I was distracted.
Um, yes, so much for that. Thank you and good night : )
ETA: the A-ha song I meant wasn't Celice, but the title track off their current album, Analogue.
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