[Cover photo credit to Alex Lake]
Earlier this month, British Rock band Keane revealed their unreleased single “Love Actually”, that had in fact been written for the hugely popular Christmas film over 20 years ago. Keane have now released its accompanying lyric video.
Coinciding with the 20th Anniversary celebrations of their debut album Hopes and Fears, the lyric video includes some of the memorable scenes of the classic British film which is also turning 20.
The song “Love Actually” was originally written for 2003 Christmas romantic comedy and the band have finally recorded a version 20 years after its inception, which was Produced by the band and led by Tom Chaplin’s vocals.
Tim Rice-Oxley of Keane shares:
In 2002 we were an unsigned band; and our friend and manager Adam was working for the producer of Love Actually. While they were making the film, Adam suggested we should quickly write a song and he’d see if he could get it into Richard Curtis’ hands…and maybe we could sneak onto the soundtrack and get our big break! Needless to say it didn’t turn out that way, but Richard always very graciously said he loved the song and wished he’d put it in the film. We all loved the song too, but having called it ‘Love Actually’, it was very hard to do anything with it! In fact, for 20 years whenever I’ve played a new demo to my mum, her response has usually been “Hmm…when are you going to record ‘Love Actually’?” Well, the film Love Actually is 20 years old now, which at last gives us a perfect reason to record our song properly.
Richard Curtis, writer and director of Love Actually comments:
Everyone makes mistakes – even if they’re understandable ones. When I first listened to ‘Love Actually’ by this totally unknown combo called Keane, I thought it was beautiful. I tried really hard to put it in the film – but in the end it was a little melancholy and, dare I say, a bit DEEP for the film I’d made. Of course, I realized what a dreadful mistake that had been when six months later Hopes and Fears was Number 1 in the charts. It is SO wonderful that the song is now being released for everyone to hear. I’ve listened to it a lot over the years and love it even more now than I did then. And this time, myself and my son Spike have made a little edit of the whole film to go with the song. I think I actually prefer that three minute version of ‘Love Actually’ to the long, chaotic film that’s been doing the rounds now for 20 years.
Keane will release a special remastered version of Hopes and Fears on May 10, 2024 exactly 20 years after its initial release. On the same day, the band play London’s 02 Arena as part of a world tour that kicks off April 1st in Mexico City before reaching Europe and the UK. Their US tour in September includes dates at LA’s Greek Theatre, Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium and New York City’s Radio City Music Hall.
TOUR DATES:
SEPTEMBER 2024
| Wed 4th | The Greek Theatre at UC Berkeley | Berkeley, CA |
| Thu 5th | The Greek Theatre | Los Angeles, CA |
| Fri 6th | Humphreys Concerts By The Bay | San Diego, CA |
| Sun 8th | TBA | Salt Lake City, UT |
| Mon 9th | Temple Hoyne Buell Theatre | Denver, CO |
| Wed 11th | The Majestic Theater | Dallas, TX |
| Thu 12th | ACL Live At The Moody Theatre | Austin, TX |
| Sat 14th | The Eastern | Atlanta, GA |
| Sun 15th | Ryman Auditorium | Nashville, TN |
| Tue 17th | Palace Theater | Minneapolis, MN |
| Wed 18th | The Chicago Theatre | Chicago, IL |
| Fri 20th | The Queen Elizabeth Theatre | Toronto, ON |
| Sat 21st | The Met | Philadelphia, PA |
| Mon 23rd | MGM Music Hall At Fenway | Boston, MA |
| Tue 24th | Radio City Music Hall | New York, NY |
| Thu 26th | The Anthem | Washington, DC |
