Keane unveil previously unreleased song written for ‘Love Actually’

Keane have shared a previously unreleased song that was previously written some two decades ago for the soundtrack of Love Actually.

The group, who are set to celebrate 20 years of their debut album Hopes & Fears next year, unveiled the track to mark the 20th anniversary of the iconic festive rom-com.

The song, aptly titled ‘Love Actually’, was written by the band before they secured a record deal and in the hope that it would feature on the film’s soundtrack.

While it ultimately failed to make the cut, the group explained how they had originally planned on it becoming a part of their big break.

“In 2002 we were an unsigned band; and our friend and manager Adam was working for the producer of Love Actually,” Keane songwriter Tim Rice-Oxley said. “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,” he added. “We all loved the song too, but having called it ‘Love Actually’, it was very hard to do anything with it! … Well, the film Love Actually is 20 years old now, which at last gives us a perfect reason to record our song properly.”

In the wake of its release, filmmaker Richard Curtis has also looked back on the track.

“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,” he said.

“Of course, I realised what a dreadful mistake that had been when 6 months later ‘Hopes & Fears’ was Number One 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.”