Within seconds, it's clear where Doves are at: Jez Williams's guitar on the opening track seems to glory in its lack of finesse, and all your fears about the trio's third album vanish in a squall of discordant six-string. On the thrilling Black & White Town, Jim Goodwin suddenly essays a Martha Reeves-like ornamentation. By track three, the band are squeaking falsetto la-la-la-la backing vocals - and getting away with it. Some Cities is no looking-over-its-shoulder follow-up to the mighty Lost Souls and The Last Broadcast. Rather, it sees Doves both retreating (from the overpolished, semi- prog hinted at on The LB), and advancing (into a melding of experimentation and stripping- down). Sonically, lyrically, atmospherically, the 11 tracks never stray farther from Doves's Manchester streets than a quick, rain-lashed walk on the moors; yet, on future classics such as The Storm and Snowden, the band find silver linings to those omnipresent clouds. You have to own this album.
Heavenly