Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream

Kingdom of Rust is quite a daring album title for British rock collective Doves. Not because it stakes a claim to recreating something of the past, but because it stands the risk of irony (pun intended). Are they referring to themselves, who took 4+ years to release a new album? Perhaps not, but it nonetheless is exhibitionist in the sense that it draws attention to themselves.

Doves made their moody rock a wild success back in 2005, with the release of their Some Cities.  The album still stands as one of my favorites of all time, and it was exemplary of a band destined for some analog of greatness. But then life happened to the band, what with marriages and babies and the like, and so it is only now that we have Kingdom of Rust. Despite the time that has passed, the moodiness is still there. And the promise for greatness is still there. Like many of the great British bands that have preceded them, Doves have an ability to sanctify both the faster-paced and the more downtempo songs of theirs, giving a genuine dynamism that goes deeper than just the sheen of a granny smith. The ethereal “Birds Flew Backwards” is a true test in stopping time with its otherwordly reverberating echoes and heavy bass line. But high-charged songs like “The Greatest Denier” and “House of Mirrors” standout with aesthetic guitar riffs and powerful imperative vocals. The dual gentleness and coarseness of “Lifelines” and “Spellbound” will have you wondering why contrast as never sounded as good as this.

By no means is this album a celebration or a lament of the old or getting old. In that sense, the idea of a kingdom of rust is inappropriate. I suppose the concept of unearthing a once-splendid kingdom seems more appropo.

Get yourself a copy of Kingdom of Rust

Listen to “The Greatest Denier”

Listen to “Winter Hill“