Doves

In the early years of the new millennium, the Manchester-based indie rock group Doves emerged prominently alongside other notable post-Brit-pop ensembles such as Elbow, Starsailor, and Coldplay. By blending energetic pop aspects from their prior dance-focused endeavor with anthemic rock tunes, the trio secured a Mercury Prize nomination immediately upon releasing their initial record in 2000, followed by two consecutive U.K. number-one albums: The Last Broadcast in 2002 and Some Cities in 2005. Their popularity persisted until the close of that decade, after which the group paused activities for much of the 2010s, only to return in 2020 with their fifth studio effort, The Universal Want, following reunion performances the previous year.

Before adopting Brit-pop sounds toward the end of the 1990s, the band's core—vocalist and bassist Jimi Goodwin along with identical siblings Jez Williams on guitar and Andy Williams on drums—had been key figures in the Madchester movement. As members of the dance outfit Sub Sub, they achieved a Top Five hit with "Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)," which reached number three in the U.K. charts. However, Sub Sub did not replicate that success with later releases, and a blaze razed their studio in February 1995. Following a period of sonic reinvention, the musicians resurfaced in 1998 under the Doves moniker, crafting expansive pop/rock compositions influenced more by the Verve and Radiohead than by the club peers of their Sub Sub days.

The group launched their recording career in October 1998 via the Cedar EP, whose limited edition sold out rapidly and facilitated their collaboration with Badly Drawn Boy, serving as his live support on multiple tracks. Two further EPs, Sea and Here It Comes, preceded their European deal with Heavenly Records, the established London imprint that had recently achieved success with Beth Orton. Heavenly put out Doves' first full-length, Lost Souls, in April 2000, with an American version arriving via Astralwerks in October. Combining echoes of Sub Sub's dance roots with a focus on live playing, Lost Souls garnered a Mercury Prize nod—which went instead to Badly Drawn Boy—and yielded three U.K. Top 40 singles. By 2001, Capitol Records had taken over their U.S. affairs, leading to The Last Broadcast charting in the U.K. the next year. That follow-up topped the English albums chart upon debut and achieved platinum certification like its predecessor, boosted by the number-three single "There Goes the Fear."

During the creation of their third record, Some Cities, Doves withdrew to rural England, inhabiting various cottages, churches, and small studios. Despite its origins distant from Manchester, the album retained a city vibe and hit number one in its opening week. Their reach grew via extensive tours, including support slots for U2, Oasis, and Coldplay. Years afterward, the band again sought countryside seclusion—this time in Cheshire's farming region, setting up in a repurposed farmhouse—to craft Kingdom of Rust, issued in April 2009 and peaking at number two in the U.K. Despite ongoing acclaim, momentum slowed, culminating in the 2010 best-of collection The Places Between: The Best of Doves before a nearly ten-year break. In the interim, Goodwin issued his solo debut Odludek in 2014, and the Williams twins put out a Black Rivers album in 2015. Renewed interest sparked by 2019 live reunions prompted a studio return, resulting in The Universal Want eleven years after the prior release, out in September 2020.