Black Rivers
Album: Black Rivers
Label: Ignition
Tracks: 10
Website: http://www.blackriversofficial.com

How we miss Doves…! There, I said it. One of Britain's finest bands of the last however many years it is, they were loved dearly by their converts but remained something of a mystery to the wider fold. Shame really, as now they're gone (well, "on hiatus" is the official line), they sound better than ever.

While singer Jimi Goodwin put out the pretty good but largely overlooked Odludek a year or so ago, his two erstwhile band mates Jez and Andy Williams kept their powder dry, watching and waiting for the right time.

Well that time is nigh and it's to be hoped their pretty good self-titled album is not as overlooked as Goodwin's.

Clearly there's more than a passing similarity to their existing oeuvre - the twins were the musical engine room of Doves after all - but freed from the parameters of that band they have embraced the opportunity to stretch out, push the boundaries and have some fun. If anything, parts of this album sound closer in spirit to their pre-Doves, hands-in-the-air output as Sub Sub.

It's not that they've returned to full on four on the floor disco rippers, but the widescreen guitar-bass-drums soundscapes that propelled Doves to reach the heights they did on genuine classics like There Goes the Fear is now augmented by the fresh rush of synths and electric keys. It's a neat trick - euphoric recollection that's made-made but feels organic. In particular, Wind That Shakes the Barley recalls a bygone age, while The Ship throws the synthetic electro kitchen sink at its outro having began life as something much rootsier.

Again, the echo of Doves is there in the Northern Soul backbeat of recent hook-laden 45 Voyager 1 - all that's lacking are the handclap moments and backflips. Oh, and maybe Goodwin's deadpan vocal delivery. Not that Jez and Andy aren't more than capable of holding a lead vocal, because they are (witness another Doves gem Here It Comes), it's just that the track sounds like it needs the other singer's delivery.

But then perhaps I miss Doves too much and would be better served concentrating on the task in hand rather than lamenting the fact the birds have flown.

There is much to enjoy in the first Black Rivers outing, it's artistically edgy and yet so full of folk roots and pop sensibilities that it makes a compelling case for both mainstream and leftfield dominance. I love the gentle gravity of Diamond Days, the heroic-sounding blue notes of Coral Sea and the musical dexterity on display in the sonic architecture of Harbour Lights - this really is a record that rewards each listen - but the clincher for me comes in the final cut, Deep Rivers Run Quiet.

It's about as bucolic as these northern city boys get, you get the sense they've been up on the moors again, soaking up the drizzle and lifting up their hearts. It's just beautiful.

Nick Churchill
www.thegranvillechambers.co.uk