Rating:
* * * * *
Verdict:
Not an easy band to pigeonhole but brilliant.
It might be that Doves will never be a challenger to Coldplay's market share. But like fellow Britrock dark horses Elbow, they have a habit of making the sort of music Chris Martin's mob only strive for.
This fourth album is four years on from Doves last and nine from previous best, 2000 debut
Lost Souls
. Here, the band, whose roots lie as a dance act in Manchester clubland, has found a higher gear and grander sound on a record which thinks nothing of switching from mechanical Krautrock to Johnny Cash-like country back to epic electronics in the space of its thrilling first three songs.
It's a great start to an album which keeps up a infectious forward momentum throughout, though that falters briefly on
Compulsion
, a disco-rock number referencing Blondie's
Rapture
.
But the rest is widescreen music that is dynamically, and elegantly psychedelic, whether it's the grinding guitar wig-out of
10.03
or the Beach Boys chorale floating above
Birds Flew Backwards
. Britrock album of the year anyone?
Russell Baillie
The host has been spotted across the Atlantic post-election.