FDF Volume 1 Issue 44: doves - Lost Souls

Album - Lost Souls
Artist - doves
Key Players - Jez Williams - (guitar/vocals) Andy Williams - (drums/vocals) Jimi Goodwin - (lead vocals, bass, guitar).
Produced By - Steve Osborne and doves.

Release Date - April 4, 2000

What caused me to blow off the dust? - Not even really sure. The other day I was scanning the cds looking for a cd to loan a friend and I went past some doves cds and decided it was time to blow the proverbial dust off.

Overview - The band orginally formed as a techno/dance band in 1991 called "Sub Sub". After a little success in the UK the band lost all its gear in a studio fire and decided to go more in a rock direction. After releasing a few eps this was the first full length from the band. This record would be nominated for the Mercury Music Prize,but in the end, they lost to Badly Drawn Boy.

FDF Comments (aka the songs) "Firesuite" starts off the record being a totally vocal free track. Slow swooping keyboards, some guitar picks rubbed over strings and then the band begins with a simple 4x4 back beat to start the track. There are one or two instrumental breaks during the track to let in some ambient fills. "Here It Comes" follows and has a strong drum beat with a hard pounding, yet simple, piano part. On the record and live Andy takes the lead vocal duties on this track. Its a great "real" first track to the album. "Break Me Gently" begins again with acoustic guitars and some odd vocal effects but overall the song swells and grows on the listener. Although it never seems to break from the vocal effect its a wonderful track. "Sea Song" follows and it one of the longer tracks on the record. Using acoustic guitar and piano before coming in as a full band the overall vibe is strong. The band, although laid back some might feel, lay a solid base to work from. "Rise" has one of the cooler intros to a track on this album. Its a combination of bass and keyboards. Its a little hard to describe. Once again the band utilizes some odd vocal effects but its seems to "work". Towards there end there is some chiming guitar work but its not up in your face. It all ends the same way it began with the bass/keyboard loop. "Lost Souls" follows. It appears the band must hav gotten a deal to use this effect on the vocals at is appears again on this track. A strong acoustic guitar riff fills the middle of the track and we swoop in and out of vocal pitches. "Melody Calls" changes gears again . For a band that seems to be more generalized with "electronic" music its a full on acoustic/harmonica lead tune. There is hardly a break when "Catch the Sun" takes off. This was the lead off single in the US and its easy to see why. Starting w/a fade up and strong acoustic lead the band launches into a very catchy pop tune. The drums are strong, the bass is punchy and the guitars swoop in above you. This track in particular should have even the harhest of critics cracking a smile and tapping their feet along to. "The Man Who Told Everything" slows things down with some subtle string work (probably done by keyboards) and some acoustic guitar work once more. "The Cedar Room" follows and give it a few moments to get rolling and you will be so rewarded. This song is epic, and is honestly the cornerstone of this album as well as the bands live performance. If there were any doves songs I'd play for someone new to the band this would be the one. (see for yourself in the mp3 section) "Reprise" comes across as an interlude from the massive high one experiences during "The Cedar Room" before heading in to the track that wraps up the record. "A House" is an acoustic driven track that closes the record on down note but its not awful.

* the record does include 3 bonus tracks Darker, Valley and Zither

Where are they now? - After this record the band has gone on to release two additional albums (The Last Broadcast and Some Cities) They also released a b-sides collection in between broadcast and Cities. The band is currently working on their fourth full length album at the time of this writing and the hope is for a summer/fall 2007 release (in the US).

FDF Personal Comments (aka the Live experience) - doves were a band that I caught 2 times live. The first time was February 26, 2001 at the Paradise in Boston. What made that show even more memorable is that a just beginning to get some buzz band "The Strokes" opened the show. The second time was June 17, 2002 at Axis in Boston. Again the band chose a great opener in "Elbow" and laid down another strong cd pulling from their two albums (up to that time).

FDF Overall Take - although not an earthshattering ground breaking record there are a fair number of true gems on this album. If a band can release a record with this many strong songs, as well as songs still played live to this day, there is something to be said for that. Lost Souls is worth checking out and before you know it you may find yourself gravitating to their other releases, which is a good thing.

Curious? Check out some MUSIC!
leave a comment if you find issue w/any of these and I will do my best to repost. let me know if its one track or all of them. its still new to me so patience helps.

Mp3s have been removed. They were
Here it Comes
The Cedar Room

Disclaimer - For the most part songs listed you can find on iTunes or your local cd shop. The idea is to give you a little taste of the music. Please support the artist buy purchasing some of their work. Songs are posted for about 1 week but can and will be removed at the request of the artist, band, band management etc. If you are one of those persons contact me via the email link in the profile and they will be removed as soon as we are made aware of the request.

Bonus Treat.

all these MP3s have been removed...
doves - Paradise, Boston MA February 26, 2001.

Firesuite
Rise
Sea Song
Break Me Gently
Catch the Sun
Catch the Sun jam
The Man Who Told Everything
Lost Souls
A House
New York
The Cedar Room
Encore
Here it Comes
Spaceface

Notes - recorded by me on my older set up. For you recording geeks ECM717->Sony D8 (DAT) @44.1 kHz.

The track after Catch the Sun (called catch the sun jam) has an overzealous fan commenting to me how its the "extended dance remix" or some crap. This show was heavily traded by me and other doves tapers/traders. I'd be curious to hear what people think as I may start posting some of my older shows. Again, like the other disclaimer if the band/management/label have issue with this let me know and it will be brought down as soon as I am made aware. Mp3's are up for about 1 week and then removed.