by Doves
Release Date: 11 September 2020
Format: LP Vinyl
Label: EMI Virgin
£18.99 £11.99
Doves The Universal Want Limited Gatefold RED Heavyweight Vinyl LP
Overview:
In a tumultuous 2020, the re-emergence of Doves with new music has provided a shaft of light in an otherwise brooding sky, finally landing their fifth album, The Universal Want, after an eleven-year artistic break, on Fri 11 September 2020.
The equally ecstatic and relieved response from fans and critics to the first track to emerge, Carousels, during the final, confusing throws of the UK and Europe’s strict COVID-19 lockdown in June, proved how desperately their idiosyncratic sense of euphoric melancholy was, and is, needed. Catching many off-guard, Doves unleashed a track of unfathomable depth, unfurling rich and unpredictable pockets of sound, twisted round a sample of the great Tony Allen at his very best.
“This place is wild at heart and weird on top, you just couldn’t make it up,” said Jimi Goodwin, surveying the world through his window while a global pandemic was taking root in late-March 2020. Paraphrasing Laura Dern’s character, Lula Pace Fortune in the 1990, David Lynch film Wild At Heart, Goodwin hits on the Lynchian-obsessions shared by all three Doves. Himself, Andy (drums/vocals) and Jez Williams (guitars/programming/vocals) would often find themselves hosting impromptu post-rave, home screenings in the early 1990s.
By quoting the film, the lead singer and bassist of the twice Mercury-nominated band also, accidentally, expresses what everyone else was feeling at the time of disorientation, fear and hope. Doves have a longstanding habit of doing just that.
First emerging in 1998 with the release of their debut, vinyl-only Cedar EP, Doves’ first album, Lost Souls (2000), received both press and award-panel praise, before Number One follow-up, The Last Broadcast (2002) provided the trio with a major breakthrough, offering with the hit singles, There Goes The Fear and Pounding. Straight-to-Number One follow up, Some Cities (2005) and the difficult birth of the much-loved Kingdom of Rust (2009) appeared to complete a perfect legacy if the hiatus the band called in 2010 lasted longer than anyone hoped. It certainly lasted longer than the band had expected. “It’s bizarre how quickly life just passes,” says Goodwin, reflecting on the years that turned into a decade.
The story of The Universal Want, the title itself and other tracks such as Prisoners giving an impression of the band’s disdain towards the consumerist illusion, starts in a rented house in England’s Peak District during secret, unintended writing sessions in 2017. Joining the dots, band historians note that it came a full year before announcing their live return and 18 months before they appeared together publicly. That they were a creative force once more was a near impossible secret to keep, as they worked between studios in the North West and the Midlands.
Rewarding fans for ten years’ worth of patience, and welcoming new fans into the fold in style, Doves release The Universal Want in multiple, special edition formats including a sought-after box set, comprising the album on vinyl and cassette, a limited-edition Remix LP, postcards and signed
prints. Limited edition, coloured vinyl editions make their way to fans via the band’s mailing lists and an Indie Stores exclusive.
The Universal Want was self-produced by Doves, with Dan Austin contributing to seven tracks, while Martin Rebelski backs the band on keys, pianos and synths for a fifth time
Featured Tracks:
1. Carousels
2. I Will Not Hide
3. Broken Eyes
4. For Tomorrow
5. Cathedrals Of The Mind
6. Prisoners
7. Cycle Of Hurt
8. Mother Silver Lake
9. Universal Want
10. Forest House
Release Date: 14 February 2025
Format: LP Vinyl
Label: Emi
£27.99
Release Date: 14 February 2025
Format: LP Vinyl
Label: Emi
£27.99
Release Date: 26 February 2021
Format: CD Album / BLURAY
Label: Heavenly Recordings
£9.99
Release Date: 27 November 2020
Format: LP Double Vinyl
Label: UMC
£29.99
