The online presence of Clash Magazine, ClashMusic.com, has a revealing new interview with Andy & Jez Williams, discussing free downloads, maintaining their mystique and Rick Myers’ albums artwork.
Of course, new bands are under great pressures to succeed. Do you think things have changed in this area since your first album?
Both: Yeah.
J: I think it’s very tough for young, new bands nowadays. There are no development deals available. You can put a first album out and if it doesn’t do well you’re dropped, seemingly no questions asked. At the other side of the spectrum, there’s what happens if your debut does really well: this thing called the second album. It depends what kind of band you are, but I get the impression there are more bands today who will look to do their first album again –the public knows their sound, and they get it, so the band responds and makes more of the same. I’ve seen that happen enough times. But then again a band might not develop their sound ‘til the third album, and if the second one doesn’t work out they never get the chance to get that far. It’s just tough, y’know.
The irreverent online sports fanzine, TalkSports Magazine, has a rather humourous video interview with Andy & Jimi; discussing their love of Manchester City football club, Rick Wakeman and escaping from rival teams’ supporters…
Lucky ticket winners of the recent competition by Absolute Radio to see Doves play a live session, were yesterday treated to a blistering set.
Doves
Zoo Session and interview
Doves came in to chat to Geoff Lloyd and they played an incredible live session in the Absolute Radio Zoo.
Check out the session, it includes the tracks ‘Kingdom of Rust,’ ‘Winter Hill,’ ‘The Greatest Denier’ and ‘There Goes the Fear.’ We’ve also got the full interview for you to check out and some photos too!
The video of the session and an interview with the band are now available to view online at Absolute Radio’s site, here.
Continuing Doves’ guest editorship of Q The Music.com, Jez has reminisced about the making of The Last Broadcast album.
Caught By The River happened so quickly it was ridiculous. We decided to go to a rehearsal room in Stockport called The Green Room. Jimi, Andy and I just started to play these three chords. Jimi started to sing this great top line melody and there it was… very natural and easy. Andy started to write these very poignant lyrics about a friend of ours; everything started to click like at the start of the recording. That was the last piece of the jigsaw for the album.
“Spellbound” perfectly melds The Bends-era Radiohead and the soaring atmospherics of Coldplay. An acoustic guitar in the background provides necessary grounding for the song to march along.
“House of Mirrors” combats its own polish with driving drum beats and heavily distorted guitars to become one of the few unabashed anthems of the album.
Doves fourth studio album sees the Mancunian band expand on their full, lush and abounding indie rock sound with flourishes of electronica, funk, country and some imposing production. Opener Jetstream’s pulsating undercurrents are just the first sign that Doves haven’t entirely abandoned the dance roots of their Sub Sub beginnings, while the sleazy funk and retro vibe of Compulsion demonstrate a new, less urgent side.
Despite these embellishments, Kingdom of Rust is still very much an alt-rock album. That’s made clear by the continued dominance of the guitar work, clear and cleanly plucked, as on Spellbound, or gritty and grimy, as on House of Mirrors. Combine this with the reverb drenched vocals and off beat rhythms, and Doves have the power to be quite engrossing.
There’s an air of dejection throughout Kingdom of Rust which can be overwhelming, both in the good and the bad sense. The glum atmosphere can become trying at times (Birds Flew Backwards), but it also makes tracks like The Outsiders and 10.03, which builds upon the wretched and miserable until it transforms into a rip-roaring rhythm-led guitar sequence. Kingdom of Rust’s main downfall is the plain sailing of tracks like Winter Hill and The Greatest Dernier – predictable, average and out of place on an otherwise strong and intense album.
Here’s an interesting interview with Andy from the Dublin Evening Herald; which reveals (amongst other things) that ‘House Of Mirrors’ was partly composed by accident!
“House Of Mirrors nearly didn’t make it on to the album because we couldn’t end it. Fortunately, Dan [Austin] was messing around with Pro Tools in the studio, and accidentally put the verse vocals over the chorus music.
“We all heard it and said ‘That’s it! How did we not think of that?’ That’s where technology can really help you out.”
Manchester Confidential.com has a great new video interview with Jimi. He addresses just how authentically Mancunian the band are, and also notes how comparisons to Coldplay and Radiohead are “lazy”.
“When someone’s drained with a track, it’s hang about, I’ve got an idea. Jez is the dominant character in this, his gift for melody is incredible and his drive. But what takes the time is that we do honour and respect each other.”
Music Week reports that the album sold a staggering 18,500 copies on its first day of release, yesterday.
Doves flying high in sales reports
Doves look set to score another number one album this Sunday, with their new set Kingdom Of Rust (Heavenly) leading a wealth of new entries to the chart.
The Heavenly album sold around 18,500 units on its day of release yesterday, comfortably outselling nearest competitor Lady GaGa’s The Fame (Polydor), which topped the charts last week.
Jez has chosen ‘Tonight’s Today’ by Jack Penate, to be Q The Music’s Tuesday “Track Of The Day”, as part of Doves’ role as guest editors of the website this week.
Jez Williams (Doves): “I really like the new Jack Penate single Tonight’s Today. I couldn’t believe it was him. I first heard it when I was driving back from rehearsals. It was so instant I fell in love with it, I must confess I wasn’t the biggest fan of his first album but, my God, this is a tune!”
Doves’ 4th album, ‘Kingdom of Rust,’ good but not good enough
The British trio Doves spent nearly two years crafting a follow-up to its stellar 2005 album, “Some Cities.” Sadly, “Kingdom of Rust” comes up short.
That’s not to say it isn’t good. It just doesn’t match the punchy vibe of “Some Cities” and, at times, may actually be a bit boring.
Jimi Goodwin, Jez Williams and Andy Williams, who first started playing together as teenagers in Cheshire, England, aimed to stretch their musical muscles on “Rust.” And on many tracks, they succeed. The album opener, “Jetstream,” is an electro-tinged, Kraftwerk-inspired song. “The Outsider” mixes classic rock rhythms with electronic sounds. And the album’s best track, its title song, is a rhythmic romp blending bright guitars with a galloping, cowboy-style bassline.
But other tracks simply fail to excite. With its fat, driving bass, “Compulsion” shows promise but ends up being an 1980s electropop throwback. Similarly, anthemic songs such as “Winter Hill” and “Greatest Denier” are good enough, but ultimately forgettable. The love song “Spellbound” and the ethereal “Birds Flew Backwards” are musically lovely, but don’t cry out for a repeat play.
Where “Some Cities” beckoned the ears with each track, “Rust” fades into the background. Too bad the albums weren’t released in reverse.
Check out this track: Arranged by Tom Rowlands of the Chemical Brothers, “10:03” starts slow and builds into a layered, bass-heavy rocker with driving rhythms.
For their fourth record in nine years, Doves deliver gorgeous, sonically adventurous tunes dappled with strings, droning guitars, Radiohead-ish atmospherics and singer Jimi Goodwin’s longing tales of lonely train rides and missing the sunshine. Kingdom of Rust is wonderfully dolorous, but when Doves rev up the tempos on tracks like “The Outsiders,” they show they’re not a total pity party. Their good cheer isn’t always convincing: “Compulsion” sounds like a bad cover of Blondie’s “Rapture.” But they get bonus points for re-creating the keyboard sound from Steve Miller’s “Fly Like an Eagle” on “Jetstream.”
It has been four years since Doves released an album and while they’ve been away, fellow Mancs Elbow have muscled in on their brand of uplifting melancholy.
But Kingdom Of Rust recaptures and significantly extends the band’s gameplan.
The gloomy but heartfelt title track establishes the record’s mood and musical edge, while the songs that surround it confirm that Doves have not been lying idly by or resting on their laurels.
The bristling and urgent 10:03 strengthens their grip on widescreen rock with a train ride into the murky recesses of the soul, while Birds Flew Backwards unfurls its forlorn, string-laden sorrow with style and substance to spare.
There’s clamour and spooky sound effects woven into the furious hard rock of House Of Mirrors.
Psychedelia from the dark side of town, it’s a song where doubt and dissolving identity are common bedfellows.
Kingdom Of Rust maps out foreboding and fearsome territory, but even in the album’s most punishing moments (Lifelines) the trio find a way to fly free.
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