Rice-Oxley 'won't fight Tom for Keane mic'

Tim Rice-Oxley has said that it is unlikely he will fight with Tom Chaplin over lead singing duties in Keane.

The songwriter and pianist already sings backing vocals in the band but both he and bassist Jesse Quin perform lead vocals on their Mt. Desolation project.

Asked if the experience could lead him to push for a lead singing role on Keane's next record, Rice-Oxley told DS: "I doubt it. Tom's such a great singer that it's just a pleasure to listen to him. He certainly makes it look so easy!

"I think I feel more confident about maybe singing the odd song. I do a lot of backing vocals already but I feel more confident about doing that now and pulling my weight a bit more in the vocal department."

Asked if he would ever work with founding Keane guitarist Dominic Scott - who left the band in 2001 - again, Rice-Oxley added: "We're still in touch, but I've not seen him for a few months. He's got his own band called Roundstone who are actually really, really good and I think they're starting to do things which is great.

"It's weird those things. It's tempting to do stuff together - I hope we do get a chance to do stuff together again. We'll know when the time is right."

Mt. Desolation released their self-titled debut album on October 18 and the band recently toured the UK and US.