The NME’s album review, which appeared in this week’s print edition, has today been posted online at their website. They give the album 8/10, stating that, “Only the overcooked, Blondie-referencing funk of ‘Compulsion’ really disappoints”…
‘The Outsiders’ is a trashy, loveable stomp featuring an ace distorted bassline and swathes of wah-wah, while ‘Winter Hill’ is the sort of anthemic rock song that U2 spend years and millions trying to write. And there’s as much chance of Bono singing about “grassy tracks” as there is of Doves singing about “sexy boots”.
U.K. newspaper, The Guardian, tomorrow publishes its review of the Doves’ Kingdom Of Rust album, but the review is already available online today…
It’s a curious state of affairs – No 1 artists who still carry an underdog aura – but it means that Kingdom of Rust sounds not like a band comfortably consolidating their previous success, but something more exciting: a band unexpectedly, subtly but unequivocally shifting up a gear.
You could argue that Kingdom of Rust is not vastly different from previous Doves albums. Folky guitar figures ground their airier musical conceits; the thud and rush of the dancefloor never seems far away; the more euphoric the music gets; the more miserable everyone in the songs becomes. “Home feels like a place I’ve never been,” protests Goodwin as a preposterously uplifting psychedelic soul stomp called House of Mirrors achieves vertical takeoff.
XFM London Radio’s Xposure show last night, featured an in-depth discussion of Doves’ Kingdom Of Rust album. The band gave an incisive commentary on each individual track, to DJ John Kennedy.
To listen to the show, click here and choose the option marked: Last 7 Days – Xposure with John Kennedy
From the drop-down menu, choose the show marked: Xposure with John Kennedy (01/04/2009)
The XFM Radio player isn’t the most user-friendly… Aside from the fact that you are prompted to register on their site to “listen again” (BugMeNot.com is your friend), there is no fast-forward option!!!
Incidentally, Jimi and Andy’s XFM Residency show starts this coming Sunday at 09:00pm. See the official Doves blog for further information.
Doves have been made for the big-time ever since they started writing their second album, ‘The Last Broadcast’. But alas, the closest they’ve come to headlining any such setting has been on support slots with U2. So you can’t say they’ve had a hard life, but all the same, they deserve more. And the most annoying thing is, most people know it.
One can’t help but feel Doves have seen what happened to Elbow last year and fancied a piece of the grown up bloke action themselves. So here is album title track ‘Kingdom of Rust’ – an ambitious, chugga-chugga steam engine of a pop tune which has Misirlou dashes, 50s throwback guitars a la Richard Hawley, and quite a bit of the Neil Hannons in its arrangement and strings, before breaking down to a semi-bluesy workout.
Doves – Kingdom Of Rust: Recorded at a converted farmhouse up in North West England, Kingdom of Rust primarily features production work from Dan Austin (Massive Attack), with two additional tracks helmed by industry vet John Leckie (XTC, Stone Roses, Radiohead’s The Bends). The single ‘Kingdom of Rust’ sees Doves return with an utter epic album of eclectic tunes that takes you on a journey somehow perfectly painting a picture of the Northwest of England in a way that only Doves can do. I can hear so many influences in this single, the likes of Blondie, Bowie and the Clash to name but a few.
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