Drowned In Sound, have today posted a review of Doves recent show at Nottingham’s Rock City venue.
What is apparent with Doves current live show is the way the new songs glide almost effortlessly into the set with the minimum of fuss, as if they had always been there. ‘Jetstream’ could be their epitaph if they ever were to call it a day, its five minutes of sonic escapism flitting from atmospheric Eno trajectories into anthemic krautrock at the switch of a lyric, while ‘Winter Hill’ and ‘The Outsiders’ fuse acid house reared grooves and laid back reverb drenched rhythms with a sense of muted ambivalence that becomes even more apparent during the latter’s us-against-the-world battle cry. Add to that ‘Compulsion’, which transforms the Spencer Davis Group’s ‘I’m A Man’ into a 21st Century liturgy and you can see why many of these more recent compositions are undeniable highlights of the evening.
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.
Sea Song is brought back into the set replacing Words.
Jetstream
Snowden
Winter Hill Rise Denier Pounding 10:03 Sea Song Almost Forgot Kingdom of Rust Black & White Ambition The Outsiders Caught By The River ————— Northenden Here It Comes Last Broadcast The Fear
The warm up tour finishes tonight in London at the HMV Forum. If you Twitter, follow The Last Broadcast for updates from the show. The band go back out on tour to support the album, starting April 15th at the Cambridge Corn Exchange.
Drowned in Sound have put up a great interview with Andy & Jez. Another great read. Check it out.