Doves' Jim Goodman (file)
Photo: John Stanton/ Getty Images

While it's true that Jimi Goodwin sang, "We're all better off in New York," believe it or not, his band still wants to get its music out to some other cities.

Doves just announced another North American tour that will kick off this fall in support of their most recent LP, Some Cities (see "Doves Still Playing Some Cities Despite Coachella Setback"). Between the title track and songs like "Black and White Town," the bandmembers' wanderlust is palpable.

Luckily, they came prepared.

"One of the good things about this record," drummer Andy Williams said, "is that it does transfer to live stage really well. We did a lot of work in the rehearsal room and actually played a lot of the record, so it wasn't too difficult to get them to work live.

"With the previous two records [Lost Souls and The Last Broadcast], we did a lot more work in the control room and the studio," he continued. "We had to really set about transferring it live. But these were readily worked on already so they're good fun to play live. They come across."

Find out for yourself on Doves' upcoming tour, which will take them through the United States and Canada.

Doves tour dates, according to their Web site (other shows will be added soon):

• 9/12 - Boston, MA @ Avalon
• 9/13 - Montreal, QC @ Spectrum De Montreal
• 9/14 - Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
• 9/16 - New Haven, CT @ Toad's Place
• 9/17 - Baltimore, MD @ Sonar
• 9/19 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle
• 9/20 - Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy Theatre
• 9/22 - New Orleans, LA @ TwiRoPa
• 9/23 - Houston, TX @ Meridian
• 9/24 - Dallas, TX @ Gypsy Tea Ballroom
• 9/25 - Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Festival
• 9/27 - Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre
• 9/28 - Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
• 9/30 - Toronto, ON @ The Docks
• 10/1 - Northampton, MA @ Pearl Street
• 10/2 - Staten Island, NY @ Across the Narrows Festival
• 10/4 - St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
• 10/8 - Mountain View, CA @ Download Festival
• 10/10 - Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues
• 10/11 - San Diego, CA @ House of Blues

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Doves
Photo: MTV News

Missing their prized slot on the Coachella bill hasn't prevented Doves from winging their way elsewhere through the U.S.

The Manchester, England, group was prevented from playing the California festival — and touring in support of Mercury Rev — after singer/bassist Jimi Goodwin's pipes unexpectedly failed him. "It was quite a shock. I've never really had problems before," he said. "I thought I had a nasty cold, but I had been singing on laryngitis for five weeks and not knowing it. I just had to have a break, a couple weeks off at home."

Despite the setback, and having to postpone shows in four U.S. cities, Doves played eight gigs in May and have five more slated for June. They'll also circle back to the U.S. in September to make up the rescheduled shows, still in support of their third album, Some Cities.

Issued in the spring, Some Cities shows Doves reversing the direction of 2002's big, sweeping The Last Broadcast (see "Doves Soar Back With The Last Broadcast"). "I feel that with The Last Broadcast we took that sound as far as we could," drummer Andy Williams said.

"We wanted to strip things back down again," his brother, guitarist Jez Williams, added. "The album is more played as a band in a room. The previous two albums were very precise productions; this has more of an organic feel to it."

Fittingly, the majority of Some Cities was recorded in cottages and rental homes, including an empty Scotland schoolhouse and Snowdonia, a national park in North Wales.

The latter location inspired "Snowden," a misspelled ode to the Welsh park, which is the second Some Cities single after "Black and White Town." Unlike the grittier camera work done by Scottish filmmaker Lynne Ramsey for the "Town" video, the clip for "Snowden" is more of a dream sequence, filled with bombs dropping and interspersed with live footage.

The band's newly redesigned Web site is filled with exclusives, including Easter egg videos and demos that have never seen the light of day. "Being on the road, we can always write little sketches and things and post them online," Goodwin said. "It's fascinating that you can do something in one day and it can be online in two hours. It's great to keep it fresh."

The band should have plenty of opportunity to post colorful online bits, with summer plans taking them to Britain's Glastonbury Festival, Japan's Fuji Festival and Splendour in the Grass in Australia.

After that, Doves will return to the States. Dates are TBD at this point, although they have been confirmed for Texas' Austin City Limits Festival in late September.

While making it big in the U.S. is something Doves would welcome, they don't feel the pressure to do so. "The whole concept of breaking America ... I don't know," Jimi said. "We're proud that we can come out and play here for the past six years and the gigs sell out and we have a strong fanbase. It's very much [a] word-of-mouth [following] we feel, and that's heartening in this age of mass media."

As for Goodwin, he's hoping his voice will be in tip-top shape — although don't expect many stage antics if it is. "We all grew up loving [David] Bowie and [Marc] Bolan and all these outrageous, incredibly charismatic people. I can't claim to ever be in that category, but I can write songs and sing. We like to be low-key, discreet. The music is it. The music is everything."

Doves tour dates, according to their Web site:

• 6/9 - Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
• 6/10 - Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theatre
• 6/11 - Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
• 6/13 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
• 6/14 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern LG

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Doves
Photo: MTV News

Even though atmospheric English pop band Doves named their upcoming album The Last Broadcast, they have no plans to go off the air.

"Some people hear the name and think we're splitting up," said vocalist and bassist Jimi Goodwin from his Manchester home. "It's not meant to be final or anything, it's just the name of a song on the album."

Like the band's 2000 debut, Lost Souls, The Last Broadcast — which is scheduled for release June 4 — combines epic, sweeping sonic vistas with lyrics about striving to escape a confining existence.

"A lot of it is about wanting to better yourself and get somewhere else," Goodwin said. "It's about the sort of restlessness of wondering, 'When are you ever gonna find where you want to be?' Or, 'Does anyone ever find that at all?' "

Though Lost Souls was ultimately melancholy, Goodwin said The Last Broadcast is far more optimistic. Much of that change stemmed from the environment in which the disc was created. While the band's first album took over two years of grueling studio work, the new one was crafted in eight months immediately after the band returned from touring behind Lost Souls.

"It's been such a couple busy years for us, and that's really vibed us up," Goodwin said. "We were babes in the wilderness dreaming of touring America or going to Australia or headlining our own shows. That was a distant impossibility to us, and now we've done it, which has really inspired us."

The album's first single is "There Goes the Fear," a seven-minute track that includes the lyrics "Out of here, we're out of here/ Out of heartache along with fear/ There goes the fear again/ Let it go."

"It's about leaving the past in the past," Goodwin said. "It's quite positive, and the song is really melodic. It goes up and down in intensity, and then it eventually morphs into a Brazilian thing with serdos (deep rhythmic drums) and repiniques (high piercing drums), and it ends with a really joyous carnival section."

Although Doves had a framework for the tune, the final mix took them by surprise. "That's what it's all about for me," Goodwin explained. "Obviously, we don't want to remake Lost Souls. As much as we like that album, it's time to move on."

The track list for The Last Broadcast, according to Doves' Web site:

• "Words"
• "There Goes the Fear"
• "M62 Song"
• "Where We're Calling From"
• "N.Y."
• "Satellites"
• "Friday's Dust"
• "Pounding"
• "Last Broadcast"
• "The Sulphur Man"
• "Caught By the River"

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Doves
Photo: Astralwerks

British rockers Doves will embark on a second U.S. tour behind their debut album, Lost Souls, on Sunday in Seattle.

The 16-date tour of clubs and theaters will conclude July 6 in Chicago.

Doves — a band formed out of the ashes of dance act Sub Sub — released Lost Souls in October. The album has spawned the slow-building single "Catch the Sun" (see "Doves Cry on Album, Soar on Single").

Doves tour dates, according to their label:

• 6/10 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox
• 6/11 - Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
• 6/13 - San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore
• 6/14 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Palace
• 6/16 - San Diego, CA @ 'Canes
• 6/19 - Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre
• 6/21 - St. Louis, MO @ The Galaxy
• 6/22 - Atlanta, GA @ Centennial Park/99X radio event
• 6/24 - Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
• 6/25 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
• 6/26 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza (noon)
• 6/28 - Boston, MA @ Avalon
• 6/29 - Albany, NY @ Northern Lights
• 6/30 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
• 7/1 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Rosebuds
• 7/4 - Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall
• 7/6 - Chicago, IL @ Metro

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Foo Fighters
Photo: Danny Clinch

Although many of the U.K.'s fabled summer music festivals have been daunted by the rash of foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks, V2001 is charging fearlessly ahead with a lineup that includes the Foo Fighters and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The recently finalized lineup also includes David Gray, Coldplay and Doves, a V2001 spokesperson said. The massive annual concert will take place at two English locations — Hylands Park, Chelmsford, and Weston Park, Stafforshire — over the weekend of August 18-19, and tickets go on sale Saturday.

The Chili Peppers will headline Saturday's Weston Park show and Sunday's show in Chelmsford. Meanwhile, Coldplay and Texas will co-headline the Saturday gig in Chelmsford before heading over to Weston Park for Sunday night wrap-up duties.

Other bands scheduled to play V2001 include the Charlatans U.K., Muse, Placebo, JJ72, Grandaddy, Toploader, Faithless, the Divine Comedy, Shed Seven and Stairsailor.

• Foo Fighters
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Coldplay
• David Gray
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Doves

Even though the Doves have drawn acclaim for their dreamily melancholic debut, Lost Souls, the Manchester, England, band is winging it in North America with its soaring single "Catch the Sun." "It's a little more optimistic than the others," said guitarist Jez Williams, whose twin brother, Andy, plays drums in the Doves. "It's one of those songs you write where you're really saying, 'You can wake up and have a good day rather than a bad day.' " Formed from the ashes of early-'90s dance outfit Sub Sub, the Doves are now on their first North American tour. The emotionally uplifting, psychedelic-tinged "Catch the Sun" is poised to help bring Stateside fans into the band's nest.

"['Catch the Sun'] is a living-for-the-moment kind of track; that's the vibe of it," Andy Williams said.

"Just grab and hold onto [the moment]. Acknowledge when life is good, and don't be blasé," added singer/multi-instrumentalist Jimi Goodwin. "Shout about when life is good. Catch it and don't let it go." Despite their extensive studio skills — proficiencies honed during their studio-centric days in Sub Sub — the Doves said they had a hard time nailing a decent take of "Catch the Sun" — the only song on Lost Souls, which was released in October, that the Williams brothers and Goodwin didn't produce themselves.

"We recorded that song about six times, and we just couldn't get it right," Jez said.

So they sought outside help from Steve Osborne, who has worked with Placebo, Curve and another infamous Manchester band, the Happy Mondays.

"Even though it's the most instant, plug-in-and-do-it kind of track," Goodwin said, "we would try and be clever and wanted to subvert it, and went, 'Oh, it's too rocky. We need to freak it out,' and it didn't want to be freaked out. So we learned the hard way.

"In the end, we just wanted someone who could capture a band playing live, and Steve's dead good at that." The kaleidoscopic clip for "Catch the Sun" was shot by director Sophie Muller for the single's European release last year. The Doves said they're particularly fond of the video's intensely color-saturated look, even though it was shot on the fly between the band's U.K. festival appearances.

"That was shot in London last summer. We did it in a day in a room," Jez said.

"It was the usual, 'We must make a video ... tomorrow,' " Goodwin said. "We don't like that aspect of videos, especially with the amount of money that's getting thrown around — your money." "So, [Muller] obviously realized that we ought to just do a performance video," Jez said.

"The less of us the better, I reckon, and more freaky stuff," Goodwin said.

The Doves say they have already written four or five songs for their next record, which the trio plan to start working on in early April, shortly after the completion of the band's North American tour, which runs through March 11.

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Doves'<BR> Jimi Goodwin
Photo: Astralwerks

Manchester, England, trio Doves are set to embark on their first North American tour, which will hit 13 cities beginning February 24 in Philadelphia.

Doves released their debut album, Lost Souls, in the U.S. last October, following an April 2000 U.K. release. Critically acclaimed at home, it picked up a nomination for the prestigious Mercury Music Prize for its lush, somber melodies and slow waves of guitars and electronic effects on tracks such as "Break Me Gently", as well as more lighthearted retro-rock fare, as on the single "Catch The Sun". Originally known as Sub Sub, the group was founded almost a decade ago as a dance act, inspired by the heyday of legendary Manchester superclub the Hacienda. Following a fire that burned down their studio and took the material for their sophomore release along with it, the trio — singer/bassist Jimi Goodwin, drummer Andy Williams and guitarist Jez Williams — emerged as Doves, with a new rock sound focused on the immediacy of live instruments as opposed to their previous immersion in technology.

Doves didn't take home the Mercury Prize last year, but their friend and frequent collaborator Damon Gough, aka Badly Drawn Boy, did, drawing even more attention to a new, more insightful aesthetic in English rock, eschewing the trappings of grandiose acts such as Oasis and Stereophonics.

The band is currently working on material for its sophomore release, of which Goodwin said recently, "It's quite upbeat so far. It's definitely different from Lost Souls already, and they're only rough demos." Doves tour dates:

• 2/24 - Philadelphia, PA @ Upstage
• 2/25 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
• 2/26 - Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
• 2/27 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
• 3/02 - Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall
• 3/01 - Toronto, ON @ Lee's Palace
• 3/03 - Chicago, IL @ Double Door
• 3/04 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
• 3/06 - Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre
• 3/07 - San Francisco, CA @ Bimbos
• 3/09 - Seattle, WA @ Crocodile Café
• 3/10 - Vancouver, BC @ Richards On Richards
• 3/11 - Portland, OR @ Ohm

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After wowing audiences in the U.K. with its gorgeously crafted, guitar-driven dream pop, Manchester trio the Doves will migrate to America next month for the release of its first full-length LP, "Lost Souls," due out on October 17.

Formed in the mid-'90s by Jimi Goodwin and twin brothers Andy and Jez Williams, the Doves took flight from the trio's earlier incarnation as a dance outfit known as Sub Sub, which scored a Top Five hit in the U.K. with its single "Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)."

As the house scene began to slow down, coupled with the rise of Oasis, another Manchester band built around a sibling core, the Doves opted to trade in their turntables for amplifiers. The decision to change was made on the Williams twins' birthday in 1997, the same day the band's studio burned to the ground.

The Doves then spent the last three years recording and releasing a series of sonically luscious singles, including several with fellow Mancunian (and 2000 Mercury Music Prize winner) Badly Drawn Boy, leading up to the European release of "Lost Souls" this past March.

Doves vocalist-guitarist Jimi Goodwin recently talked with MTV News about "Lost Souls" and explained the rather practical reason behind the band's switch from dance and electronica cuts to a more straightforward rock and roll sound.

"'Ain't No Love' being a big hit caught us by surprise," Goodwin admitted. "It caught us on the hop. So after 'Ain't No Love,' it was like, OK, if it's quicker to write, then why don't we start jamming again and playing our instruments and incorporating that into [the band], 'cause the three of us sitting around one computer was getting a little slow. We were never very prolific, to be honest, but, yeah, we did some good sh** with Sub Sub.

"But back in 1994," he continued, "way before the studio fire -- because everybody's got this romantic notion that after the fire, we were like, 'Wow. That's it. OK, let's change direction' -- we were already doing that. I mean, obviously, it hindered us, and it was a f***ing weird setback, but for want of a name back then, we were still called Sub Sub.

"I kind of wanted to keep the name anyway," Goodwin said. "It was sort of like, 'F*** you. Who says we can't change?' You know us as [having done] this sort of 'your man done cheated on me' disco track, but there was always more to us than that. But Andy and Jez were like, 'No, let's [change it],' just to break with the past. After the fire, in a way, that just reinforced it for them -- 'Let's just totally change the name and let's start again.'" [RealAudio]

Built around hypnotic drum rhythms and looping guitar riffs, Doves songs such as "The Cedar Room" and "Lost Souls" make it clear that the band didn't c of the Sub Sub recording techniques into the new outfit and even drew inspiration from some ghosts of the past, both figuratively and literally.

"['The Cedar Room'] is inspired, definitely, from an old house track," Goodwin said. "I'm not gonna tell you which one, but there's an old British track. The melody is kind of similar to it, and it was obviously done with this weird synth, but we just loved the melody. Jez started playing [the song], and I went, 'Sh**, that reminds me of that track.' And we went, Oh, f***, it is. Yes, God.'

"We just started jamming around it and playing with it," he added. Goodwin described. "There was a rumor that it was [haunted by] ghosts when we were kids. In one part of the house, they had a room they called the cedar room, and with all these ghosts, it was meant to be haunted. So, obviously, they were about 11 or 12 [years old], and that really captured their imagination." [RealAudio]

The Doves will tour the U.K. in late October and early November, and the band is currently mulling plans for a possible North American tour before the end of the year.

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