Doves ascend with film inspired ‘Constellations for the Lonely’.
L-R: Jez Williams, Jimi Goodwin, Andy Williams. Image: Brian Stevens.
Jimi Goodwin, Jez Williams and Andy Williams have been playing and recording together since their schooldays, first as dance act Sub Sub and then from 1998 as indie rockers Doves. After twelve years of critical acclaimed records and sell-out tours, the band went on hiatus, making a triumphant return in 2020 with number one album The Universal Want. This month sees the release of their sixth studio album, Constellations for the Lonely.
As work on the new album was getting underway, Doves learned that they would have to leave Frank Bough Sound III, the studio where The Universal Want and its 2009 predecessor, Kingdom of Rust, were recorded. “We were there for 14 years,” says Andy, explaining that following the death of its owner, the converted barn was needed as accommodation for a new dairy farmer. Jez consoles himself that their long-time creative retreat has been preserved on film. “We leased it out to the Stone Roses, when they did that film with the director Shane Meadows. He recorded all the rehearsals in Frank Bough Sound III, so at least it's been documented somewhere – admittedly not with us!”
But just as the destruction by fire of Sub Sub’s studio led to the band reinventing themselves as Doves, so the move from Frank Bough Sound III initiated a new way of working: “We took control of this album, more than any other album we've ever done before,” Jez says. “Even though we lost the studio, we were involved in every aspect of the making and the mixing of it, which is strange really, but I think with technology everyone’s got a studio in their house.” Although they did some of the vocals, together with the strings, in a local studio, the majority of the album was recorded at home. “We did the drums at Andy's mancave, did some of the guitars at mine,” Jez says. “I mixed the album, so we managed to control literally everything. It's quite liberating really. We worked really hard, we tried to make it as three-dimensional as possible, and tried to give it a lightness as well – we didn't want the drums too heavy sounding.”
“Our number one concern through this record was that he was alright, checking up and seeing if he’s OK and checking-in. Secondly, whether he wants to record or not, because you have to be really respectful of whether somebody’s in the right place or not”
A few tracks on Constellations for the Lonely date back to Frank Bough Sound III days, including “Saint Teresa”, which was originally composed for The Universal Want. “It was quite nice really when starting on this record – we felt it was a strong enough song to carry it forward. And songs like ‘Cold Dreaming’ have been knocking around for years, but we've never managed to suss it out. It took us a while to solve the jigsaw, so to speak.” The last song to be written before they moved out was the first single to be released from the album: “Renegade”. Lyrically, Andy says that they were going for a “Scott Walker vibe … but like Scott Walker living in Manchester in the future. It sounds bizarre, but with something like that as an image, you go, ‘Right, we can work with that!’” Its principal musical debt is to Vangelis, specifically the Blade Runner soundtrack. “That mood spawned a whole new genre, that noir vibe,” says Jez. “And with ‘Renegade’, it was heading in that direction anyway. It works.”
One of Jez’s favourite tracks from the album is “Strange Weather”. “It's unpredictable. I like to be one step ahead and try to divert where you think you're going to go or go the other way. I get a kick out of that. It starts off very filmic, and then it turns into a post-punk workout, if you want to put a label on it.” While Jez wrote the verses, Andy supplied the lyrics to the final section, which originally belonged to a different song. “And weirdly they fit together. The lyrics are non-specific but create an atmosphere.” Jez agrees, adding that they give the song an “apocalyptic” feeling, which comes from the unusual way in which they were written. “Every time I had an idea for a song title, I wrote it down. And then I realized I could actually piece all those song titles together, kind of how Bowie used to cut and paste lyrics. It started to give this really odd picture, almost like little snapshots of different situations through life. It's something that we hadn't done before, so it was a nice territory for us to have a wander around.”
Image: Brian Stevens.
Jimi had written “Orlando” several years earlier, but it was remodelled for Constellations for the Lonely. “We stripped away quite a lot of the instrumentation for that,” Andy explains. “It was a lot fuller. We realized that little piano motif and the vocal were the really strong bits of the song. There was a lot more samples in there and we just stripped it all out, really.” The other innovation was what Jez describes as “switching the palette” between sections – “The verses, we wanted to have that feel where it was impromptu around the piano. And then it goes into this massive soundscape of Balearic stabs, and it's almost like the opposite of the verse” – while Jimi’s lyrics added to the eccentricity. “He took the car into the garage, and they put the wrong set of brakes on – it’s quite an unusual lyric motif to put in a song! But for me, it gave it a weird, untethered feeling. It almost sounds a bit like Travis in Paris, Texas, when he's walking through the desert.”
The loss of the studio wasn’t the only major adjustment when making Constellations for the Lonely, with lead singer Jimi Goodwin not always well enough to join the Williams brothers for writing and recording. Andy admits it was a challenge: “Our number one concern through this record was that he was alright, checking up and seeing if he's OK and checking-in. Secondly, whether he wants to record or not, because you have to be really respectful of whether somebody's in the right place or not. But it didn't stop me and Jez just ploughing on. We’d do the day-to-day – if Jimi's not around, one of us would sing, we’d do lyrics, or we'd earmark something that would be good for him.”
After the tour for the previous album was cancelled out of concern for Jimi’s health, Doves were keen to find a way to perform their new material live for the fans who have been loyally waiting. “There was a bit of groundswell that people really wanted to hear us play on stage, and that's why we thought, with this album, we want to make this happen.” Taking the decision to perform without Goodwin wasn’t easy, but with vocals habitually shared between all three band members, they were confident they could make it work. Both Jimi himself and the audience have supported their decision, as has been made clear by the tour selling out. “It just shows us that people do want to hear the songs live, irrespective of the individuals,” says Jez. “I think people want to experience it in a collective, with a lot of people in the room. So we're there to provide that service, without sounding too weird …”. Andy laughs: “Yeah, just liking the idea we’re providing a service, showing up in a truck like we’re a group of cleaners. I’m digging that – full complimentary service!”
Constellations For The Lonely is out February 28th.
Author: Rachel Goodyear