BACK TOWN!!

From KM.com,

As you'll see from the picture above, Keane were back together in London today for the first time in *ages*. The band recorded an acoustic session for The Sun's website, which is due to air in the middle of March ahead of the release of Night Train. We're told the session sounded amazing (but, hey, you could've guessed that, right?) and we'll obviously let you know the exact date when it'll be posted.

Thanks to Dave Hogan for the picture.

EP TRACKLISTING ANNOUNCED!

From KM.com,

We're very pleased to announce the tracklisting of Keane's new eight-song EP, Night Train, which will be released globally on 10th May 2010. The tracklisting is as follows:

1. House Lights
2. Back In Time
3. Stop For A Minute (feat K'Naan)
4. Clear Skies
5. Ishin Denshin (You've Got To Help Yourself) (feat Tigarah)
6. Your Love
7. Looking Back (feat K'Naan)
8. My Shadow

The EP was recorded in various studios during the Perfect Symmetry world tour that saw the band playing to packed arenas in 28 countries. Highlights include Keane's genre-busting collaborations with Somali/Canadian rapper K'Naan, the irrepressible Stop For A Minute and the Rocky-inspired Looking Back. "I think those tracks show us in a completely different light," says Keane frontman Tom Chaplin.

Other definite standouts include Ishin Denshin (You've Got To Help Yourself), an addictive electro-pop number which features Japanese baile funk MC Tigarah; the gorgeous, 80s-flavoured Your Love, which hangs around a rare lead vocal from the band's Ivor Novello-winning songwriter Tim Rice-Oxley; and fans' live favourite My Shadow.

Night Train will be released on CD and download - and you can pre-order a special numbered edition of the EP through the Keane Store right now by clicking here.

KEANE ANNOUNCE NEW 8-TRACK EP AND ENGLISH FOREST TOUR

From KM.com,

Following the worldwide success of their third consecutive Number One album, Perfect Symmetry, Keane are pleased to announce details of a new eight-song EP and a tour of English forests.

The Night Train EP will be released globally on 10th May 2010. It features eight powerful new tracks which were written and recorded during the Perfect Symmetry world tour that saw the band playing to packed arenas in 28 countries, from Australia to Norway, Colombia to South Korea and Lebanon to Switzerland. The EP takes its title from the band's favoured mode of transport during the tour.

The EP includes Keane's genre-busting collaborations with Somali/Canadian rapper K'Naan, ‘Stop For A Minute’ and ‘Looking Back’. "I think those tracks show us in a completely different light," says Keane frontman Tom Chaplin.

Other definite highlights include ‘Ishin Denshin (You've Got To Help Yourself)’, which features Japanese MC Tigarah, as well as the gorgeous 'Your Love', which hangs around a rare lead vocal from the band's Ivor Novello-winning songwriter Tim Rice-Oxley.

Due for release on CD and download, the Night Train EP will be available to pre-order through keanemusic.com, from Wednesday 2nd December. NB: Please note, the artwork in the picture above is the cover of the promo EP, and is not the final artwork.

The band have also announced plans for a summer tour of forests in 2010, including a homecoming show at the Bedgebury Pinetum, just outside the band’s hometown of Battle, East Sussex. Dates are as follows:

10th June – Thetford Forest, Suffolk
11th June – Bedgebury Pinetum, Kent
18th June - Westonbirt Arboretum, Gloucestershire
19th June – Sherwood Pines Forest, Nottinghamshire
25th June – Dalby Forest, North Yorkshire
26th June – Cannock Chase Forest, Staffordshire

Tickets for the shows will be available from 9am on Wednesday 2nd December through keanemusic.com, before going on general sale from Friday 4th December via 01842 814612, www.forestry.gov.uk/music and www.keanemusic.com. Tickets will be £32 (subject to booking fee). A full support bill will be announced.

(Big Keane news announcements are like buses - you wait ages for one and then two come along at once...)