What Happened to Keane?

When the news of a new Keane album popped up in my Facebook stream the other day, I was surprised. I hadn’t heard anything else about this album, Strangeland, even though a quick look at the band’s Timeline showed them discussing little else for the past month. That’s what I get for mostly listening to NPR instead of music radio. [Insert customary cursing of Mark Zuckerberg for showing only what he thinks is important. Him personally.]

Once I knew of the release, I employed my standard strategy to get the best price: check the flyers in Sunday’s paper. This may seem archaic, but if anything, I would think bands that have been around since before music downloading was a thing would be more likely to hit emphasize the traditional retail channels.

Not so, apparently. Not a single local store was advertising the new Keane CD. Target had some guy calling himself Tank with an album title truly dizzying in its straightforwardness, This Is How I Feel. Best Buy featured a duo named Karmin and the even more mundane, but I’m sure secretly deep, title of Hello, along with Neck of the Woods by Silversun Pickups.

When I ambled into Best Buy – shut up, it was convenient – Strangeland wasn’t even on the New Releases shelf, unlike several albums already out several weeks. Only a single copy was available deep in the Pop/Rock rack.

Am I old? Keane was never the very hottest group on the charts, but have they fallen so far?