By Andy Smith

I have to admit that I am a latecomer to my Doves advocacy. Until I got a copy of Some Cities, I really just respected the band from a distance simply because it's hard to go wrong with a band from Manchester that plays soaring melodic rock music. After all this is the city that has produced the Buzzcocks, Joy Division/New Order, the Smiths, the Chameleons, Stone Roses, and Oasis among many others (as well as being the birthplace of the late, and truly great, Stuart Adamson, even though Big Country was seen as a Scottish band).

But when Some Cities landed on my desk earlier this spring, I was surprised when I was truly knocked out by it on the first listen. Upon closer examination, the songs are built around relatively straightforward chord structures, but Doves' instrumental, arranging, and production skill enables them to create incredibly stirring and soulful songs. The band has a fantastic sense of dynamics and a keen understanding of how to integrate electronic elements into the music, not as gimmicks but as another instrument. On top of all of it, Jimi Goodwin's vocals are soulful and effective, and the frequent derision of his abilities by critics is really unfair; he isn't a crooner and won't be doing Vegas cabaret, but his style perfectly suits the music, and he knows how to play to his strengths as a singer.

Though the entire record can easily be viewed as a whole, unlike other records which seem to be a bunch of songs whose only unifying factor is that they're performed by the same artist, the first four songs on Some Cities flow together so seamlessly that they could almost be (GASP!) a suite.

The title track opens the record with Andy Williams' drumbeat followed by twin brother Jez' ringing, bending guitar, which is soon joined by a second guitar track that sounds as though the ghost of Sterling Morrison dropped by to play along. Goodwin makes his vocal entrance with lyrics that are apparently an ode to a hometown (Manchester, England) that he doesn't recognize anymore, and intentionally or not, provide an loose, but still overarching theme to the whole record: "I'm thinking that I met you before/I think it's time to settle the score/Buildings there they stretch so tall/Steel and brick no more, no more/Can I make you see?" Then, about 90 seconds in, Goodwin's bass kicks in as the song's disparate pieces coalesce and the whole thing begins to chug like a revving engine. Even as the song dips and swells, Andy Williams' drumbeat never wavers from its original tempo, which is a lesson in song dynamics for bands everywhere (listen to Otis Redding's version of "Try a Little Tenderness" for another prime example).

Right as "Some Cities" ends, the next drumbeat kicks in to signal the start of "Black and White Town," which effectively uses straight piano chords (which, for the record, don't really sound like Joe Jackson's "Stepping Out") that build through the verse into a huge chorus where Goodwin sings of the mundane torture of life in the suburbs ("In satellite towns, there's no colour and no sound/I'll be ten feet underground/Gotta get out of this satellite town"), before it pulls back with piano and drums alone with the drum tempo again staying constant. The second verse features some splendid production work where noise and dissonant electronic elements are used to make the sound appear to disintegrate as Goodwin gives a desperate spoken word rant before everything returns in full for the chorus. After Jez Williams' tosses in a simple, but tasteful guitar break, the whole thing drops out leaving Goodwin almost alone with his vocals before it all kicks back in. Brilliant.

Next, almost immediately comes the quick guitar intro to "Almost Forgot Myself" before Jez Williams guitar leaves Goodwin and Andy Williams to groove on their own before this seemingly clap-along tune takes an atmospheric turn and changes from a foot-stomper to a floating, almost ethereal chorus. The fact that Doves can take these two potentially incongruous song elements and make them work so fluidly is really impressive.

To complete the opening four songs is "Snowden" which is probably the best of the bunch and really encapsulates why Doves might be the best band of their kind since Radiohead. With a mixture of an urgent tempo contrasting Goodwin's plaintive vocals, a quick crunching guitar break, and a stunningly gorgeous vocal/keyboard sound in the chorus which is almost reminiscent of the woman's voice in the Star Trek theme, "Snowden" achieves the difficult task of achieving the lofty and daring musical goals it aspires to but remains totally accessible. It also has a sound that befits the storied Welsh mountain from which it takes its title.

After this four-part barrage of tuneful uplift, the arrival of the more subdued "The Storm" is welcome. Jez Williams takes the lead vocal, which provides a nice contrast, although his voice is less distinctive than Goodwin's and bears a passing resemblance to Thom Yorke's. The full minute fade out at the end provides the proper setup for the next song, perfectly placed at the record's middle, which serves as Some Cities' pivotal moment.

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