Keane Share Original Demo For “Somewhere Only We Know,” Their Signature Song Released 20 Years Ago Today

Alex Lake

Keane Share Original Demo For “Somewhere Only We Know,” Their Signature Song Released 20 Years Ago Today

Alex Lake

British pop balladeers Keane have been digging through their back pages lately. Last year, the band shared the previously unreleased song that they wrote and recorded for the movie Love Actually, and director Richard Curtis said that he was wrong not to use the song in the movie. Now, Keane are getting ready to release a 20th-anniversary edition of their debut album Hopes And Dreams. The grand and sweeping “Somewhere Only We Know,” that album’s lead single, became a huge international hit, and it’s still Keane’s signature song. Today is the 20th anniversary of the “Somewhere Only We Know” single release, and Keane are celebrating by sharing their original demo for that song.

Keane are doing a whole lot of things for the Hopes And Dreams 20th anniversary, including a tour, with stops in big venues in the US and the UK, and an expanded box-set edition of the album. The box will include B-sides, rarities, and demos, including the first recorded version of “Somewhere Only We Know.” That version of the song is just singer Tom Chaplin alone at a piano, but you can already hear the grandeur in it. Here’s what Chaplin says in a press release:

I remember standing by that amazing old mixing desk at Heliocentric Studios where we made Hopes And Fears, listening to an early mix of “Somewhere Only We Know.” I had this feeling that we’d come up with something that had an extra bit of magic. Making music is so often a process full of doubt, but on this occasion there was something undeniable about what we’d created. Clearly, a lot of people felt the same when the album came out!

Below, check out the “Somewhere Only We Know” demo and the video for the version that got released.

The remastered 20th-anniversary box-set edition of Hopes And Fears is out 5/10 on Island/Interscope.

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