I just bought the new Keane album on CD, and was suprised on listening on a regular hifi system (not a computer) that it contained audio clicks, sounding just like it was a vinyl record. On track 4 in particluar "Everybody's Changing" the clicks are identical in nature, and appear at the beginning of the track approximately every 2.5 seconds apart.

I know the clicks are identical, because I used Adobe Audition to perform a spectrum analysis. The clicks are all indentical, and are more defined on the left channel than the right, which is bourne out when listening. The clicks are definitely louder on the left.

I've had the CD replaced, but it suffers from the same problem. I even tried a colleague's CD from work - bought at a different time and a different city, same again.

So is this a production problem, or some bizarre copy protection which which is apparent even when playing the CD on legitamate audio equipment?