CityLife

Doves are ruling the roost at last

WELCOME RETURN: Doves

“IT was to justify why we’re still together,” says Jimi Goodwin, explaining why it took three years for Doves to emerge blinking into the sunlight with their fourth studio album.

“It was necessary,” he adds. “It had to be this long. Just trying to prise it out of us. It was working out whether we could still do it with each other.

“So it was a curiosity. To see if we could still pull it out of each other.”

Those who have heard Kingdom Of Rust – “epic soundscapes, pulsing magnificence… a completeness to it,” says the M.E.N.’s own Paul Taylor – clearly believe that it’s a case of mission accomplished.

But then Goodwin and his fellow Doves, twins Jez and Andy Williams, had set themselves some tough benchmarks.

First they were Sub Sub, danced-up doyens of the Hacienda age, and precursor to the atmospheric and almost filmic virtues of the synth AND guitar-wielding Doves they would become.

Doves’ debut, Lost Souls, gave us the Northern Soul-inflected Here It Comes and aching The Cedar Room, and led us neatly into the Number One selling follow-ups that were The Last Broadcast (featuring the mighty and mesmeric There Goes The Fear) and last offering Some Cities.

They’ve been critically acclaimed respected keepers of the Manchester music flame pretty much from day one.

Even so, a band intrinsically linked to the city made a surprise departure to a working dairy farm near Warrington, in the heart of the Cheshire flatlands, for album number four.

Throb of the motorway

“We were surrounded by cows and buzzards and the throb of the motorway, the wind, and it was a pretty mad place,” Goodwin explains.

“We bought a whole heap of gear in early 2006 and we set up there with a slight detour to Rockfield with John Leckie (more of that later).

“We all wanted to be near home this time and we hadn’t had a studio since Lost Souls really.

“Going to the same place every day can be good. But it can also be frustrating. There were times when we all longed to be in the city – you know, just to nip out for a coffee. And to people watch would have been interesting, but you know, you can’t have it all ways.”

Will this be another number one?

“We don’t want to tempt fate,” Goodwin adds. “Knowing Doves, we just kind of have that joke among us that you’re best not going there. Of course it would be lovely. It would be incredible. I don’t like talking about it.”

But they were reassured with every new riff. Hindsight even provides an opportunity to reflect on the monumental landmarks which punctuate those 19 years together.

“For all of us, the biggest thing was getting Sub Sub’s Space Face played by Mike Pickering on a Saturday night in the Hacienda. For us, that was it. Our work was done. We’d made it.

Wives and partners

“It’s families which have made us grow up – wives and partners have made us grow up,” Goodwin adds. “But when we get together we’re still those young sh*t kickers, young idiots, who can thankfully still make a noise together. You have to think that and tell yourself that.”

Working with legendary producer John Leckie was meant to be the landmark of Kingdom of Rust, but it didn’t quite turn out that way.

The man who worked with Radiohead and The Stone Roses quickly realised that Doves didn’t need – or want – his help.

“John was wise enough to say ‘you know what guys, maybe you don’t really need me to see this whole thing through,” Goodwin adds.

“There was no falling out. No animosity.

Illusion

“He didn’t shatter any illusion. He’s such a big, mellow, enthusiastic guy. But it was quite obvious that we weren’t going to let him just do it. We can’t help ourselves. Things really take us a long time but we do know what we want.”

Nor do Doves fit the classic mould of those Manchester bands with a frontman-cum-lyricist providing his supporting musicians with words to wrap the sounds around. Theirs is a much more co-operative affair.

“That’s why I baulk at being called the so-called frontman,” Goodwin says. “There’s so much more to us. I ain’t the man in this band. We all take the weight and contribute and add something to each other’s songs.”

He adds: “Generally the music comes first. Some tracks come and you start humming melodies and the words come instinctively. Andy writes loads of lyrics.

“He wrote the lyrics for Winter Hill, Kingdom Of Rust and Lifelines. All three of us write.

Eclectic

“That’s what takes the time and that’s what makes us all so eclectic and good really, because there’s never one guy who carries the band.”

But four albums – all of them great in their own way - is quite an achievement for any act, CityLife suggests. “Yeah, when bands get dropped after their first record these days, it’s amazing really,” Goodwin concedes.

“I suppose the secret of our longevity is that we get on. There’s a lot of love there. We still think that we’ve got something to give to each other.”

And to the world?

“I’d never say it in those terms, it sounds dead American. It’s mad. Someone said 'it’s now 10 years since Lost Souls' and it seems crazy.

Sub Sub

“We’ve got so much history, as Sub Sub and all that, and the things we’ve seen come and go. As friends and partners and band mates we’ve managed to hold it together, because a lot has happened.

“There’s been joy and tragedy and all sorts of sh*t going on in the making of the record. I don’t want to go too much in depth, but there’s one positive in that Andy’s a dad now, he’s got a little girl. But there’s also been illness and family bereavement between us all to get over.

“And going to work, whether you wanted to or not, was sanity. There were some days I didn’t want to be there, but we’ve got that ethic where we’ve just got to do it and it keeps you sane.

“It was a slog and this record wasn’t easy to make, without a doubt. It was like trudging through piles of snow at times. But it’s that curiosity and that desire to write good songs. To push it where we haven’t been before.”

Doves play Delamere Forest on Saturday, June 13. £27.50. Call 01842 814612. Kingdom Of Rust is out now through Heavenly Records.