Doves

About a decade ago, the word "angular" was rarely heard outside of a geometry class, and this was what Mercury Prize nominations sounded like. Doves did enough anthemic rafter-reaching to honor predecessors like Oasis and the Verve. They were also studio-centric and tech-savvy enough to satisfy an OK Computer jones, while having enough British classicism for people not ready to follow Radiohead down the rabbit hole. And there were many of them, to the point where "new Radiohead" (ironically sounding like the old Radiohead) became one of the early new century's most briskly populated UK indie subgenres.

Doves - The Last Broadcast
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 352 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Heavenly # HVNLP35CD | Country/Year: UK 2002
Genre: Electronic, Rock | Style: Brit Pop, Downtempo, Indie Rock

…They've stripped down to the basics, letting the optimism of The Last Broadcast take center stage. It's a brilliant moment.

Doves - Some Cities
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 290 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Heavenly # HVNLP 50CD | Country/Year: UK 2005
Genre: Electronic, Rock | Style: Brit Pop, Downtempo, Indie Rock

…Escaping the dreariness of Manchester is what fueled Doves to start a band in the first place. Some Cities isn't a Mancunian downer. It's very real and Doves' best yet.

Doves release their fifth long player The Universal Want on Virgin EMI. On lead track Prisoners Doves forces attention upon itself, not least with the poignancy of Goodwin’s repeated greeting to ‘old friends’, but as an unstoppable, driving tale of caution in a world of unending desire. Produced by Doves with Dan Austin and recorded at the band’s own Frank Bough Sound III studios in North West England, the high heat of its Northern Soul beat is fanned by wiry guitar breaks and cuts of ethereal noise contorting beneath layers of stacked vocals. A statuesque musical statement, Prisoners guides Doves’ second chapter to a peak now within touching distance, the lyrics contrasting to express unease with modern ills.

In a tumultuous 2020, the re-emergence of Doves with new music has provided a shaft of light in an otherwise brooding sky, finally landing their fifth album, 'The Universal Want', after an eleven-year artistic break. Buoyed by refreshed chemistry, restless studio creativity and public reaction to their return, the album's release is preceded by the single 'Prisoners'. Refusing once more to fall into predictable, guitar-bass-drums, 'plug in and play' dynamics, 'The Universal Want''s overwhelming sense of intrigue owes everything to Doves' three decades experience at the wheel of their band (a lifespan going back to their time as dance band, Sub Sub), and an autobiographical trip through the sounds of their own lives.

Jeremy Beck (b. 1960) has an approachable knack for the orchestra that is more sirloin than meatloaf. With the intensity of international diva Rayanne Dupuis and the Slovak Radio Orchestra’s committed playing, Beck’s tragic themes come to life with a rich patina.
When George Bush Sr. delivered the 1992 State of the Union address, Jeremy Beck didn’t buy it. He wrote an impassioned orchestra piece to express his rage…..