Legendary Manchester trio, Doves have released their latest, luminescent track, "Cathedrals Of The Mind," lifted from their first album in 11 years, The Universal Want, due out September 11 on IMPERIAL (US) + EMI (UK). With band members separately citing Talk Talk and David Bowie as inspirations, the song once more finds the band becoming the incomparable sum of their parts. The achingly vulnerable voice of singer Jimi Goodwin flows into the valley-deep atmospherics cultivated by band mates, Andy and Jez Williams, sweeping with delicate grace in breathtaking murmurations. Looping guitar lines, bass subdued to scratchy dub outlines and echo-laden percussion punctuate the track's rolling landscape.
At the helm of guitars, backing vocals and programming, Jez Williams says of the track: "The song stems from a single hook, which developed to evoke this expansive internal monologue, this never-ending chasm of thought. Subconsciously, through words thrown against it and made to fit, it came to be about someone always being on your mind. The listener can form their own ideas. For me, it was about the loss of Bowie."
"It's a prayer to sonics," reveals Jimi Goodwin. "We still love production and sonic detail. The album more than meets our expectations and, for once, we were unanimous in the track listing. We're ready to let the whole world in and then gently close the doors. We'll leave the listener to work out what we meant by it all."
The Universal Want and early singles "Carousels" + "Prisoners" have earned critical praise spanning Pitchfork, Stereogum, Rolling Stone, CLASH, Uncut and beyond as well as radio airplay with Sirius XMU, KCRW, WXPN, KEXP, WXRT, WFUV + more. The Universal Want will be released in multiple, special edition formats including a limited run of colored vinyl and a sought-after box set, comprising the album on vinyl and cassette, a limited-edition Remix LP, postcards and signed prints.
First emerging in 1998, Doves' first album, Lost Souls (2000), received a Mercury Award nomination, before Number One follow-up, The Last Broadcast (2002) achieved the same critical feat, at the same time as delivering the major league, breakthrough singles, There Goes The Fear and Pounding. Straight-to-Number One follow up, Some Cities (2005) and final, pre-pause album Kingdom of Rust (2009) completed what could have been a perfect legacy had the story ended there.
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