May 9, 2012 12:38

Keane: 'Fake pop has taken over the charts'

Singer Tom Chaplin also says he believes 'the charts are in a sorry state'

Photo: Press

Keane frontman Tom Chaplin has hit out at the current state of pop music, branding it "fake" and calling today's charts "a sorry state".

The group, who released their fourth album 'Strangeland' on Monday (May 7), said that they believe "there is an exciting world beneath the charts", but that the Top 40 is just awful.

Speaking to the Daily Star, Chaplin said: "The charts are in a sorry state. It's all just noise to me. I put on MTV occasionally and it’s just a racket. It bores me. Fake pop has taken over, terrible Europop and shit R&B that makes me think: 'What's going on? Didn't this rubbish sound tired in the '90s, let alone now?'"

The singer added that he hadn't given up on new music completely, saying: "There's loads of great stuff out there now which hasn't a hope of making the Top 40. There's an exciting world underneath the charts but the Top 40 is so disappointing these days."

Chaplin then went on to justify his outburst by saying that he was trying to show off "the real me" and that he is no longer "scared of saying the wrong thing".

He added: "The real me didn’t come across. I was scared of saying the wrong thing. There's only so much we can do to change people’s views. If someone is venting spleen, they have probably got their own shit going on."

Recently, the band revealed that they had been influenced by The Vaccines on the LP. Speaking to NME, pianist Tim Rice-Oxley said: "We loved what [producer] Dan Grech did on The Vaccines album. It had just come out. He'd also done stuff with Radiohead and produced the second Howling Bells album, which I loved. As luck would have it, Dan was a massive Keane fan, so we ended working with him."

You can watch a video interview with Chaplin and Rice-Oxley, in which they discuss the creative process behind the album, by scrolling down to the bottom of the page and clicking.

Keane will tour the UK in support of 'Strangeland' in May, playing a total of nine shows. The run begins at Newcastle's O2 Academy on May 23 and runs until June 8, when Keane will headline London's O2 Academy Brixton.

Keane are playing at this year's T In The Park, which is taking place July 6-8 in Balado Park, Kinross. To check the availability of T In The Park 2012 tickets and get all the latest listings, go to NME.COM/TICKETS now, or call 0871 230 1094.

Video: Keane - 'Silenced By The Night'

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