Keane's 'surprising' new track

by Kev Geoghegan
Radio 1 music reporter

Keane's Tom Chaplin performs at the Live Earth gig in London

Keane's 1980s-influenced new single has had its first play on Radio 1.

Spiralling is the first single from the band's new album and is being made available on their website free of charge.

It is a massive departure from their traditional piano driven sound, swapping the almighty power ballad for a synth-heavy, funked up bass line and even a touch of Bowie's 1983 classic Let's Dance.

Singer Tom Chaplin told Jo Whiley: "We thought we'd just stick this song out there as a way of celebrating the fact that we've finished the album. He admitted: "This is a song that is probably going to surprise a lot of people."

Children of the 80s

Chaplin revealed the band have been living on a diet of Bowie and Talking Heads while recording their third album, Perfect Symmetry in Berlin.

Keane described the album as "ignoring the rules of good taste."

Chaplin said: "You can definitely tell that we are children of the 80s.

Keane brought in the services of producer Stuart Price, the man behind the pseudonyms Jacques Lu Cont and Les Rythmes Digitales.

He has remixed for the likes of Madonna and Gwen Stefani and most recently The Killers.

Chaplin said: "We had Stuart in for a couple of days and we thought we'll just chuck the rulebook out of the window and just got for it.

"He was a big inspiration in that respect."

Spiralling is available for download free of charge for the next week.