Doves

Doves is a band formed by Jimi Goodwin and two twin brothers Jez and Andy Williams. The official start of the project took place in 1998 when the trio played their first gig. In fact, the members of this English group had known each other long before that day as they used to constitute another band, Sub Sub. This dance formation assembled in 1989 and included exactly the same people who later would form Doves. Despite the odds, the relations in Sub Sub where close to ideal, even between the two brothers, which is an exceptional case in music industry. The musicians had a very busy concert activity and released only one studio album. They could have produced many more if the studio where the band was working was not go down in flames one day taking away all the materials, equipment and facilities. The musicians made an unexpected decision to put an end to Sub Sub and to start all over playing a different kind of music.

Renamed to Doves, they took a turn to a rougher guitar sound, which disenchanted many of their old supporters. The trio did not completely deny the legacy of Sub Sub and preserved electronic elements in their new sounding. Although their old formation used to recruit session vocalist, this time it was agreed to make Jimi a constant singer. The British music lovers and critics greeted the new band warmly after the release of their first EP The Cedar Room in 1999. This paved them the way to the prestigious Glastonbury festival in Manchester. Late in 1999, Doves faced a ordeal as they started their first massive tour. Whether they were headliners or just an opening act, the fresh group passed the test nicely and amassed a respectable regiment of supporters after those concerts. It was high time to bring in the full length album. And so did it come in April 2000 under the title Lost Souls. There were six songs from this record that went out as singles, including the smashing hits Catch the Sun, and Man Who Told Everything. Doves entered 2001 with their first Mercury Prize nomination. Later, the group moved to Capitol Records, which looked like a very nice commercial move. They celebrated it with the release of the strong single There Goes the Fear that landed o the third position in the UK charts. This was overshadowed by the shortly issued sophomore album The Last Broadcast, an immediate chart-topper. Although, this work was successful both commercially and musically, the States remained a hard-to-get market to the English formation. This became one of the reasons why the musicians started looking for a new direction.

The third full length record by Doves, called Some Cities, saw light in 2005. The presented material marked the group’s intentions to make their music smoother and calmer. The experiment found understanding and recognition among the great majority of critics who named this album the best one in the trio’s discography. It seemed that after that, Doves faced a hard choice thinking over which path to go. It took them as long as four years to prepare the subsequent album, and nobody was sure what this would be like. To the surprise of many, Doves delivered a true rock record, Kingdom of Rust, once again making guitar and energy their trademark. The album hit the stores in spring 2009 and collected numerous praiseful reviews. The strong compilation album titled The Places Between: The Best Of Doves saw the light in 2010. It included the band’s best works, created by the musicians during their whole career, from the debut record Lost Souls (2000) to the long play Kingdom Of Rust (2009). Definitely, such compilation album proved to be a great present to Doves’ fans, but all the lovers of high-quality music will not be disappointed as well: The Places Between: The Best Of Doves is produced in the highest level.