Doves' new sound

Band say new album has country and teutonic leanings and reveal plans for more shows

18 September 2008 - The Doves have emerged from their fourth album hibernation to tell 6 Music all about their long-awaited new record.

The Manchester band just played a mammoth comeback gig in celebration of Heavenly Records at the Royal Festival Hall on Friday 12 September - their first gig in over two years.

Their last offering Some Cities was delivered to the Doves’ lovers back in 2005 and frontman Jimi Goodwin told us they've been working on the new album, which is why no one's heard from them for so long.

Goodwin explained: “We’ve been so absorbed in this record. It took longer than anyone anticipated and we’d never written so many songs as we had for this one. We’ve just been working hard on getting the balance right and trying to justify why we still exist, where we’re going and what this record’s about.”

During the show Goodwin actually said that playing the Royal Festival Hall was their first gig in 2 years and 7 months – something which worried them.

They weren’t sure how their new material would go down: “It’s tough trying to play new tracks, no one knows them and plus we’re only just getting our heads around to play physically. We were worried that it was a sit down gig but no, they seemed to throw out that rule book, everyone was off their seat instantly, it was amazing.”

"I think we’ve got all the classic song structure things nailed, we need a few out there join the dots things now to even the record out, something a big avant garde."
Jimi Goodwin

‘Super country’ sound

Doves showcased four new songs during the show and speaking about the new album’s sound, Goodwin said they have a wealth of material to choose from.

But, the four they played last weekend are likely to make the final cut: “Of the new songs we played they’re defo contenders. We played a song called Winter Hill which is sort of country-ish, Jetstream with Jez singing is quite different for us and it’s quite teutonic, driven, 70s sort of German, very atmospheric.

“And there’s Kingdom of Rust which is like super country, it’s got a shuffle back beat and I’m really proud of that one, I think it’s a really strong song.

“And we played a track called The Outsiders which has got a can-esque drum beat and it just builds and builds and is quite moody.”

More shows planned

Playing live together again went so well that the singer says they're hoping to do some more gigs this side of Christmas.

And they hope to grace their hometown: “We’ve got one more session in November and for better or worse this record it done, we’re gonna master it in December – please God and that’s it. We might even do something at Christmas, just a couple of gigs. I think we owe Manchester a gig this side of Chrimbo.”

In terms of the scheduled release for album number four, Goodwin says they’re aiming for spring next year, with a view for it to be out in March or April 2009.

They’re still finishing some of the writing at the moment: “We’ve got four or five weeks to get those ideas down and we’re gonna write separately for a couple of weeks and then reconvene and see what we’ve got. That’s how we do it these days, everyone brings something to the table and we work on it.”

When asked what’s left to do, Goodwin responded: “It’s too absorbing, we’re all dying to finish it. We just need a couple of key ingredients now. I think we’ve got all the classic song structure things nailed, we need a few out there join the dots things now to even the record out – something a big avant garde, devoid of any verse and chorus, that’s where I’m thinking.”

Clinging to tradition

Jeff Barratt, the founder of Heavenly records has said that its possibly their best album to date.

To which Goodwin replied: “I’m too involved, doing the gig was a great diversion, it gave us a bit of an ego boost and was good to just strap on and play.”

After a period of rehearsing, they're just excited to get the album out there.

But no plans have been made yet for release and Goodwin doesn’t think they’ll be doing a Coldplay or Radiohead – giving material away for nothing or asking fans to pay what they want - when it comes to that.

“I haven’t the foggiest, do you have to pull rabbits out of the hat these days?” the frontman asked. “I just like to think you can still release something and download it or whatever. It’s something we’ve not even discussed yet, still kinda clinging on to the belief that you can go out and tour to death and hopefully someone somewhere gets it.”

Georgie Rogers