NEW YORK -- U.K. rock outfit Keane is "nearly done" with its third album, according to a Web posting from pianist Tim Rice-Oxley. No title or release date has been confirmed for the project, but it's likely to appear before year's end via Interscope.
Keane has recorded in Paris and Berlin, with assistance from producer Jon Brion and new bassist/guitarist Jesse Quinn. Among the songs likely to make the cut are "Playing Along," "Black Burning Heart" and "Perfect Symmetry," as well as "a lovely song we're trying to do in a kind of Mercury Rev-type of way," Rice-Oxley said.
Of the latter, he adds, "It's begging to burst into some kind of 'Only Living Boy in New York'-style (background vocal) extravaganza at the end."
Earlier postings referred to "gospel-infused backing vocals," "huge, pounding concert drums and timpanis" and "the grandness of (a) Steinway piano" as enriching the songs.
The new album will be the follow-up to 2006's "Under the Iron Sea," which has sold more than 369,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.
