C3S3CD6 made me smile, although it was an album I hadn't listened to for a long time it was a album that I was familiar with and loved.For some reason when I think of Doves I think of Elbow and vice versa. I'm not sure why this is, they don't sound like each other, or maybe they do a bit. They are both from the Lancashire area (I think) and both arrived on the music scene around the same time in 2000. I think they both remind me at times of the late works of Talk Talk, and this can only be a good thing as I love Talk Talk.
So on to the album, the cover has a very atmospheric black and white photograph of a boxer, and this sets the tone for the CD. I always thing of Doves early releases as a soundtrack to a beautifully shot B&W art house film that says very little but leaves you feeling really good about life by the time it finishes.
Doves are one of the few bands around now that manage to mix stylish instrumental pieces along side beautifully crafted pop songs and manage to make them all seem relevant and never make you want to skip a track. There is a completeness to this CD that makes you want to play the album from start to finish and in this day and age where artists persist in filling CDs with 70 minutes of music (20 of which is no more than average) when 50 minutes of brilliant music will more than keep me happy!
So 12 tracks, all killer no filler, Catch The Sun and Here It Comes, are typical Doves and couldn't be mistaken for anybody else, driving bass, and hook laden chorus' that stay in your head for days. If you haven't heard Doves before The Places Between a best of collection might be a better place to start but I suspect that once you have that you will be one set away from purchasing all the back catalogue.
Mark 9/10
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