Doves - Kingdom of Rust

Kingdom of Rust is the fourth studio album from Manchester-based indie rock band Doves. The album is set for release on April 6, 2009 in the UK via Heavenly Records, and April 7, 2009 in the US via Astralwerks Records.

http://www.home.doves.net/content/doves/img/album.jpg

1. "Jetstream"
2. "Kingdom of Rust"
3. "The Outsiders"
4. "Winter Hill"
5. "10.03"
6. "The Greatest Denier"
7. "Birds Flew Backwards"
8. "Spellbound"
9. "Compulsion"
10. "House of Mirrors"
11. "Lifelines"

hurray!

The last LP was very lush but mostly pretty dull - hopefully this will be an improvement.

based on nothing at all but whimsy, and the absolute moral conviction that for a Doves album to come out in 2009 it must be for a damn good reason, I suspect this could be a mindfuck

i didn't buy the last album. i loved the first two. the youtube stuff i watched/listened to from the last album, didn't really thrill me, but i've been thinking about them lately, so, maybe this is a sign.

i was just talking about doves with raposa the other day, AND THAT NEVER HAPPENS LIKE EVER

Looking forward to this very much. I loved the first three to varying degrees, but haven't listened to any of them for a year or two now.

Neo epic postgaze revival rerevived!

I actually relistened to those first two albums recently and was surprised at how uneven they were. Ultimately I think they're a better singles band.

Following up two enormous wall-of-pop singles with a (really pretty) cover of King Crimson's nigh-on most reviled song has to be some sort of stroke of genius IMO.

xpost

Agreed—a complete listen-through of any of the albums is ultimately rewarding, but the highlights really do tower over the rest. Doves do have a knack for sequencing, though.

Why are all the great bands being dropped by their labels?

Surely it may not have to mean that much, but it tends to mean low budget, and the best music needs a somewhat large budget to sound really good. Witness the last Travis album, which has some good songs, but sadly lacks the atmosphere that Nigel Godrich's production used to give them.

umm .. doves haven't been dropped ?

OK. Checking the old CDs it seems they've always been in Heavenly. My bad. I thought they were on a bigger label.

Jetstream is available to download from their website and sounds exactly like a track off the last Embrace album.

:(

If this is another dose of what they've always been doing, it'll be a mixture of pretty standard (but good) catchy melodic pop/rock songs and more atmospheric stuff. Often within the same track. So judging it from one example doesn't say much, no matter whether you consider it a good thing or a bad thing.

'Jetstream' is great - especially the New Order bit at the 3 minute mark...

Lost Souls is still my favorite thing they've done.

Jetstream is great - especially the New Order bit...

Love this band. Pretty sure I saw the Strokes open for them once, way back when. It's been a while since I listened to an album all the way through, but whenever my iPod shoots me something from one of the first three discs it sounds absolutely right.

this is leaking...

saw the video. pretty, but the song was kind of 'meh'. is it a grower?

the second doves record is uneven to the point of only having about 3 or 4 good songs. 'lost souls' on the other hand is an excellent release with barely a trace of misstep in sight. it blends different moods and paces masterfully, and really hits its stride, not to mention some sublime heights, in a handful of the quieter, more measured moments.

the third album seemed to be as dull as dishwater and painfully predictable. only gave that the one spin.

I got around to listening to 'Jetstream' last night, and had mixed feelings about it. They've still got a way with melody that appeals to me, and the atmospherics are there in full force, but the song doesn't really have the release that you keep expecting to show up around the next chorus/whatever. Still, I think this might actually work in its favour... it manages to build quite a bit of tension before the end.

false alarm, it wasn't the album that leaked...

redownloading lost souls fyi

All style, no substance.

lol

fuckin guy lookin for "substance" in his music in the year 2009 who the fuck

Hence my retirement from writing about this shit anymore.

I'm not sure if Doves have ever had much substance, TBH. Sure isn't what I look for from them, though there are flashes here and there. Some Cities made some effort.

OK, now I've heard 'Kingdom of Rust' as well. Great Morricone spaghetti western vibe.

(And no, I didn't pay attention to the lyrics.)

What would something with all substance and no style sound like?

Chumbawamba

I could write half a dozen paragraphs on the ways in which that is a rong answer but my coffee break's more or less up.

(clues: over-statedness of "substance", under-ratedness of some-time style)

Pop Bands play Pop

here are some US dates:

05.14 San Diego, CA: House of Blues
05.15 Anaheim, CA: House of Blues
05.16 Los Angeles, CA: The Wiltern
05.18 San Francisco, CA (The Fillmore
05.19 Eugene, OR: McDonald Theatre
05.21 Vancouver, BC :Commodore Ballroom
05.22 Portland, OR: Wonder Ballroom
05.23 George, WA: Sasquatch! Festival
05.26 Denver, CO: Gothic Theatre
05.28 Minneapolis, MN: Varsity Theater
05.29 Chicago, IL: Vic Theatre
05.30 Detroit, MI: Majestic Theater
06.01 Toronto, ON: Kool Haus
06.02 Montreal, QC: Le National
06.04 New York, NY: Terminal 5
06.05 Philadelphia, PA: The Trocadero
06.06 Washington, DC: 9.30 Club
06.07 Boston, MA: House of Blues

Figures I'm in the Far East atm.

they were good live. also, free still going remix of 'kingdom of rust' on their website.

First promo CD I've seen with the recipient's name etched on the surface of the disc itself.

SFA do everything Doves do re; incorporating "texture" and "rhythm" and "layering" into standard indie music, but do it much better, and without the monotonous whinging. Discuss.

(fwiw I'm with Matt DC on the rhythmic thing; don't get what Ronan's on about at all.)

I've not heard any SFA as atmospheric in the same way as what i liked best about Doves. but i haven't heard any SFA album in full.

Have you ever heard Some Things Come From Nothing?

i've just playlisted it ta

Dirty spotify junkie.

for that i'm deleting it

I find SFA a lot more moving even though their lyrics are often complete nonsense and their melodies / arrangement seemingly quite emotionally irreverent (even most of the ballads); whereas Doves, much more self-consciously mining a serious "emotional" aesthetic, leave me unmoved a lot.

hahaha

that doesn't sound better, just different. but cool.

SFA do everything Doves do re; incorporating "texture" and "rhythm" and "layering" into standard indie music, but do it much better, and without the monotonous whinging. Discuss.
doves aren't in sfa's league, if they'll ever be BUT since they're less silly, they're capable of bringing and sustaining melancholic atmosphere in a way that sfa won't/can't (which might be what you mean by "monotonous whinging"?). anyways already liking the new album more than the last one. it's punchier or something

Not feeling the new Doves. I'm back to my old aesthetic sticking-point: it feels too self-consciously Big and Important and Windswept etc, without any redeeming sense of personal intimacy. I've enjoyed all the earlier Doves album, but this somehow tips the balance too far. Also: Jimi Goodwin, you're no Guy Garvey, and this material is perhaps too demanding for your expressive range.

Do ex-dance-heads have such affection for Doves because they basically sound like an E comedown?

Jimi Goodwin, you're no Guy Garvey

true. i don't care for this.

Also: Jimi Goodwin, you're no Guy Garvey, and this material is perhaps too demanding for your expressive range.

Feeling this as well. Doves' vocals really never grated on me before, but KoR is changing that.

Jim's not the problem vocally in Doves; he's nondescript, sure, but not horrific. Now the other guy; he's fucking awful. Unlistenable. Painful.

(Not heard new album.)

i don't think he's non-descript. his voice is pretty recognisable at least.

also maybe i like the misery /mrsdoyle

Mouthy, that's the thing — I actually prefer the other guy's vocals on this one. That's never happened before.

Fucking wow.

Part of the problem is that Jimi's vocals seem to be mixed a lot higher on a lot of these songs. I'm only gauging from a high-bitrate MP3 here, but either the production or mastering (maybe both) are fairly offputting. It borders on physically unpleasant. You'll probably hate it.

Agreed. Jimi's been fine before, mumbling into the mix - not a show-stopping voice, but a thoroughly pleasant one which has suited the material - but he's somehow being showcased here, and the added spotlight does him no favours.

The Prins Thomas remix of Kingdom of Rust is rather lovely. Reminds me of Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve remix of Midlake - a subtly psychedelic expansion rather than a dramatic overhaul. The guitar and strings are so beautifully deployed that Jimi's admittedly limited vocals are just one ingredient rather than the focus.

"compulsion" could be a knife song

friend played something from this last night, don't know which tune. very pleasant. sorta like they were showing those swedes studio how doves gets the job done. also kinda early cure-like but with bass and modern production

Totally jacking the live version of Spiritualized's 'Electric Mainline' on 'Winter Hill'.

Jimi's dreadful charisma-free void of a voice is still the worst thing about them. I still have some residual affection for them for Lost Souls and bits of the second album but I'm not quite sure why.

Actually, fuck the album, I'm just gone straight for that Prins Thomas remix, and it's terrific.

Jimi's dreadful charisma-free void of a voice

^^otm

bits of the second album but I'm not quite sure why.

because There Goes the Fear still kills, and Pounding is about as good as knowing anthematic rockers go.

His voice works pretty well when they're doing stuff like Sea Song and it's just this big elemental impersonal Easter Island head sound but most of the time it's just in the way and ruining the song.

bump, for release date.

somehow a Bee OK post seems incomplete without album art and a tracklisting

haha

It's already on Spotify.

Is it any good, though?

I've not heard this yet, not a huge amount of interest but I'll listen since it's on Spotify. I don't really see what Nick is getting at above as regards SFA, the two bands are wildly different. In any case I definitely don't care to defend Doves. Or any other band/artist

'Compulsion' is on the way to Studio territory but sadly not enough!

Matt OTM about Goodwin's voice... Almost Chris Martin sometimes.

Apparently, this is number one album in the midweeks!

The last two albums went to #1 as well, it's hardly surprising.

Well, inasmuch as The Last Broadcast had the big lead-off hit single, and "Some Cities" was 'well received, but had loads left over'.. (e.g. that 'deluxe box with DVD' version, £22 at first, in fopp for £3 later), would have lead me to assume this might not go over as big.

Still..

#1 on what chart??

the album chart

yep.

"Jetstream" is nice but kinda rips off Air's "Alone In Kyoto" something rotten. The rest I'll need to hear properly although "Winter Hill" sounded good on first listen. Expecting little so much in the way of competence will be a pleasant surprise.

"Winter Hill" sounded bad and cheesy on second listen. The only good thing about it is half-ripped from Spiritualized, as Matt DC mentions above, and half from MBV ("What You Want" outro). "The Outsiders" was ok though.

Hey - this album's alright in a kinda dreary way...there are a couple of very neat change-ups and a few solid tunes, but it's a bit bedwetter at the end of the day, a bit forgettable.

A good album. I guess what I miss is some immediate and catchy songs like "There Goes The Fear", "Black And White Town" or "Catch The Sun". Also, I listened to this one and the most recent U2 back to back the other day and was kind of surprised that the "original" still outdoes most of their followers at this thing.

Do ex-dance-heads have such affection for Doves because they basically sound like an E comedown?

What, "bloody awful"? Yes, that's about fair.

Not an album I'd ever have considered listening to, but this thread convinced me it was worth a spin. Cheers, this thread.

The only good thing about it is half-ripped from Spiritualized, as Matt DC mentions above, and half from MBV ("What You Want" outro).

There's something of The Chemical Brothers' "The Sunshine Underground" in there too

this album insidiously burrows beneath your skin until you forget completely why it's so mediocre

it could be seen as perhaps the pinnacle, the apotheosis, of bedwetter

this album is so dire and dull

...but insidiously catchy, i mean the songs are all formulaic and crappy and whatever, but they lodge, like ticks, it can be seen as a fleeting triumph for the banal dirge

it's "catchy" the way chlamydia is "catchy"

lindstrom remix of the single is surprisingly terrible. i haven't heard the original and don't intend to with those lyrics.

i think "10:03" and the last three tracks are the best tracks, and that the last two especially are everything coldplay aspire towards, for better and for worse

most tracks here have some sort of really slickly-executed tech-bedwetter hook, it's uncanny how on-point this album is with regard its own (albeit crappy) aims

itt: backhanded compliments

why are you listening to it?

because it's on spotify and i quite like some of their earlier songs...and because 2009 is yielding precious little

i like the lindstrom remix! well, the instrumental one

Unsure what to make of Jimi's solo album.

I'm very into it. Pretty damn all over the place though!

Yeah, I think that's what's initially kind of off-putting about it to me (and I'm a self-proclaimed fan of "mess" albums).

I think the first half is just not very tuneful and that's my big issue with it. Definitely *love* at least three tracks on side two though.