First off the mark to fill the Coldplay-shaped void while Chris Martin is getting to grips with changing young Apple's nappies, Keane need little introduction.

Their single Somewhere Only We Know was omnipresent, and this album has already topped the charts. Hopes And Fears does everything you'd expect: singer Tom Chaplin steals the show with that heartbroken choirboy croon, while, in the absence of a guitarist, piano man Tim Rice-Oxley has the hardest-working fingers in pop, staking a claim to be the Johnny Marr of the ivories.

Everyone's Changing, Bend And Break and Your Eyes Open keep the songwriting standard up, with memorable hooks and some beautifully-crafted moments. However, although vaulting choruses and any number of bits that sound like U2's New Year's Day colliding headlong with Coldplay's Yellow are no bad thing in themselves, you suspect Keane may not have much else up their sleeves.

Too often these perfectly-polished songs ring empty and vague, missing that vital spark of excitement and emotional connection that makes you genuinely fall in love with a band.

Updated: 09:38 Thursday, May 20, 2004