Doves: The Universal Want review – Post-Britpop survivors back in demand

While most people were still squabbling about Oasis and Blur after the Britpop wars petered out, the discerning indie fan had moved on and was listening to Doves. Four excellent albums were released from 1998 to 2009, then followed a hiatus which saw all three members embark on solo projects.

Eleven years after their last album, Doves still have plenty to say without having anything to prove – ergo there is a sense of the sanguine running through this excellent album.

Lead single Carousels nicely sets the tone, an atmospheric number anchored in their trademark noir-ish gloom – yet the jubilant bounce of I Will Not Hide immediately lightens the tone with its insistent rhythm. There’s a healthy smattering of that same light and shade throughout: the melancholic Broken Eyes and the resilient For Tomorrow; the self-doubt of Prisoners – a perfect foil for the philosophical, all-embracing title track.

The music is similarly eclectic, smothered in Doves’ distinctive style that blends strummed indie tunes (Broken Eyes) with soulful inflections (For Tomorrow) and unstudied experimental incursions, as heard on Cathedrals of the Mind. Here, they have crafted an album that retains a solemn sense of intimacy yet simultaneously embodies the epic, as heard on songs like Cycle of Hurt.

Like ’em or not, there are very few bands like Doves – and even fewer capable of comebacks as impressive as this one.