Keane, formed as The Lotus Eaters by Dominic Scott, Richard Hughes and Tim Rice-Oxley, who nearly became a member of Coldplay, in 1995, and soon joined by singer Tom Chaplin in 1997, became one of the leading British bands of the 2000s alongside groups such as Coldplay, Snow Patrol, Travis and Muse. After Scott left the group in 2001, Keane had a commercial breakthrough with their first full-length studio album, Hopes and Fears, scoring top 10 hits with “Somewhere Only We Know”, “Everybody’s Changing” and “Bedshaped”. The group gained recognition for their piano-based rock sound, which mostly lacked guitars after Scott’s departure.

Keane continued to have similar commercial success with their next three albums, Under the Iron Sea (2006), Perfect Symmetry (2008) and Strangeland (2012), bringing bassist Jesse Quin into the lineup in 2008. The group then went on an extended hiatus after releasing a greatest hits compilation, but it was revealed in January 2019 that they had begun working on new material. This would end up being a new album titled Cause & Effect. This was followed by Dirt EP, featuring demos from the recording of Cause & Effect.