Constellations For The Lonely by Doves | Album Review

The sixth album from the British indie rock stalwarts presents their most lavish and artful work in years.

Sometimes I just choose bands to review based on their name, and this is one of those. I thought Doves were one of those metal bands with an ironically adorable name, like Kittie or Swans. I was wrong, but I’m not mad because I discovered another excellent British indie rock band to add to my collection.

Formed in Manchester in 1998, the trio of Jimi Goodwin and twin brothers Jez and Andy Williams spent more than a decade creating acclaimed indie rock balancing the joys of life with its dark undersides. The acrimonious process of recording their fourth album Kingdom Of Rust resulted in the group taking nearly a decade off, working on solo projects and generally taking time apart from each other.

By 2018, the trio finally began exploring the possibility of new music, and that started quickly bearing fruit. They had progressed far in the creation process of their fifth album The Universal Want when COVID-19 struck. A combination of the pandemic and singer/bassist Jimi Goodwin’s fragile mental health resulted in the cancellation of the planned tour for the album.

Now, five years later, the trio regrouped one more time to make the sixth Doves album Constellations For The Lonely. This reformation led to some of their most stunningly produced and deeply considered music to date, allowing their musicianship to blossom to a truly artful level.

Doves set the tone with “Renegade,” a stunning piano rock ballad with some extremely cool production behind it. The piano chords on this song sound towering and vast, as big as the galaxy, paired with a warm, leaping bass line and Jez William’s rich baritone voice. I also love the impressionistic lyrics, juxtaposing the chaos of modernity with the pacifying facade we see everyday:

Far above the mayhem where we’re told we live the dream

Piccadilly Gardens, the same old sorry scenes

As you walk out the door

Then you're walking out, you’re out forever.

“In The Butterfly House” also dazzles with its production, as guitar licks seem to flutter around our ears like the titular insects. It’s one of the most beautiful moments on the record, which perfectly conceal the fact that this is a song about murder:

A secret garden led to a deep lake

Flickering flames lit up the night sky

All was quiet

On the moorlands

Is then I saw her standing there, knife in hand

What have you donе?

I also love “A Drop In The Ocean” for the way it layers different licks and motifs. Bouncing bass, bright guitar passages, infectious vocal riffs, and a multitude of other effects come together to create a song that sounds as big as its namesake. The lyrics perfectly match this intensity, singing of vast feelings of love, tarnished by this unspeakable distance:

Ah you are the reason

I said you are the air

You’re like an unsaid emotion

But you’re not there…

Give me a reason

Can you give me a sign?

Surely it’s beneath the waves

Somewhere out there!

With a tightly composed slate of ten songs, I can’t pick any single song out as a lowlight. The only thing across the album that fails to please me is singer/bassist Jimi Goodwin’s voice. After hearing Jez William’s dulcet tones on “Renegade,” I was disappointed by Goodwin’s comparatively thin voice on the following “Cold Dreaming.” That’s a real shame because “Cold Dreaming” is easily one of the best songs on the LP, but the vocals hold me back from fully embracing it.

All told, Constellations For The Lonely prove Doves are a band that keep on flying, no matter how much life tries to shoot them down. These guys are true blue musicians, with a strong ear and killer musical chemistry. Though world circumstances and mental health have long worked against them, I think Doves has the power to push through and create even more rapturous music. They say it themselves on the serene closing track “Southern Bell”:

Now you're here with me my friend

By facing the fading light

And we'll go on

We'll go on forever more

And you'll never

Be alone

Again.

Production: 8/10

Lyrics: 8/10

Songwriting: 8/10

Overall: 8/10

Favorites: Renegade, In The Butterfly House, A Drop In The Ocean

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Thank you for reading! What did you think of this album? Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts and recommendations.