Keane's melodic and earnest brand of indie rock propelled them to the top of the UK charts in the summer of 2004, while their career trajectory mimicked the success of the similarly styled Coldplay. Originally from Battle, East Sussex, England, school friends Tom Chaplin (b. 8 March 1979, England; vocals/guitar), Richard Hughes (b. 8 September 1975, England; drums) and Dom Scott (guitar/keyboards) first began making music together in 1995. Keane was inaugurated two years later with the addition of Tim Rice-Oxley (b. 2 June 1976, England; piano), with the quartet taking their succinct name from a childhood baby-sitter who lived next door to Chaplin's family. The quartet relocated to London and released the limited edition single "Call Me What You Like" in February 2000 on the Zoomorphic label. "Wolf At The Door" followed in June 2001 before Scott became dismayed at the band's lack of success and announced he was leaving. The remaining trio persevered with an unusual drums/piano/voice set up, and began to make progress after being spotted by Simon Williams of the hip indie label Fierce Panda Records (which had also helped launch Coldplay's career). The singles "Everybody's Changing" and "This Is The Last Time" followed in 2003, by which time Keane was being trumpeted as one of the UK's hottest bands. A major label recording contract with Island Records was signed later in the year, and the trio's commercial breakthrough duly arrived in February 2004 when "Somewhere Only We Know" broke into the UK Top 5. A re-released "Everybody's Changing" followed it into the Top 5 two months later, while debut Hopes And Fears topped the UK chart in May. The album went on to become one of the year's biggest commercial successes.
Keane's difficult second album lived up to form. The band fragmented during the recording sessions but came together for a happy ending. The darker and heavier feel to most tracks on Under The Iron Sea helped the band to shrug off their perfect pop image; "Atlantic", in fact, was positively Pink-Floydian.
