Doves get the Elbow treatment

When play resumed, it was not without further hiccups but there were enough great moments to confirm that this was an absence that made the heart grow fonder.

Time has always moved more slowly for twin brothers Andy and Jez plus singer and bassist Jimi Goodwin, school friends who have now been making music together for more than 20 years. As dance act Sub Sub, they had a 1993 hit with Ain’t No Love (Ain’t No Use) before picking up more traditional instruments and changing the band name. They’ll finally release the fourth Doves album, Kingdom Of Rust, on 6 April.

New tracks that had old favourite potential included the album’s title, galloping along on a spaghetti western bassline, and Jetstream, an atmospheric opener that saw Jez singing high lead vocals over swooshing techno.

There are still few to match them for doing moody and euphoric at the same time, Goodwin’s weary voice sounding as if he was tapping into final reserves of strength for the soaring choruses of older songs such as Pounding and Black And White Town.

Plenty of signs point to them becoming this year’s Elbow — a bunch of ageing, remarkably ordinary northern blokes who find that after such a long time, a huge mass of people
realise how terrific they are all at once.

Whether that happens in 2009, it has been 20 years well spent.
1 and 2 May, Brixton Academy (0844 477 2000, www.brixton-academy.co.uk).

Doves
HMV Forum
Highgate Road, NW5 1JY