Doves

Kingdom of Rust

(Astralwerks)

Record Review by Marcel Feldmar

The Doves are a band I go back and forth on. Not like as in love or hate, but more like, love or don’t really care one way or the other. Every album since Lost Souls from 2000 has had at least one or two songs that are just brilliant. They get stuck in my head, they appear on my mix tapes, they find themselves spinning in some random placed DJ gig. The rest of the songs however, while I don’t ever dislike them, just kind of leave me with that meh feeling.

Lost Souls had "Firesuite", The Last Broadcast had "Words", and "There Goes The Fear". Then with Some Cities it was "Black and White Town". Keep in mind, that these are what hit my ears, and is not necessarily the opinion of anyone else. Then this new album hits, and I’m a little excited, but also a little, well, indifferent at the same time. I do get this feeling that every album title has a feeling of sadness, which carries through in the sounds and songs. Even when you are being pushed forwards by the beat, you still feel this dark cloud hanging overhead. This feeling doesn’t change with Kingdom Of Rust, that peculiar sense of tantalizing nonchalance flows through my initial listen.

The first song could be a keeper. "Jetstream" flows with that beat and power that could be listened to again and again, but then the title track hits like a britpopped Ghost Riders in the Sky, and I’m thinking, c’mon, pick it up, give me more… and then there it is. The songs start hitting, one after another, all sounding good, lush, full, moving, deep, and pushing ahead. There are some moments that almost take you out of the rhythm, like the slow starting 10:03, but then the build up and hit just throws you back into the sonic world the Doves are creating around you.

When the slow soft down time hits at "Birds Flew Backwards", it feels alright. You need a little space to breathe, relax, before moving back up and out with the next song, that leads subtly into, for me, the most interesting song on the album. Maybe not my favorite, but there’s this dark funk groove that kind of feels like some James Chance and the Contortions messing around with a Pink Floyd vibe against a Blondie (Autoamerican) backdrop. Forget all those little hints of bands like Keane, South, and Radiohead. Listening to this song I start hearing a whole new set of inspirations falling into the mix. "Compulsion", perfectly titled, makes me feel like there’s something that I’ve either totally missed in the past, or the future is getting dressed up for a night on the town, and that, for some reason, pleases me.

While I don’t think that the singles on this album are as immediate as previous ones, or they might not be hitting quite as hard, I do feel that as a complete album, the Doves have given us their best one yet, and have left it nicely with promises of more to come.

The lost souls explored some cities and then found themselves a kingdom. Rusted it may be, but rust can be beautiful….