life goes past, a kiss so near
In the beginning, there was a small dance collective in Sheffield called Sub Sub. They made decent noises that got themselves played at local clubs, sold a few records, then one of them became a national hit. "Ain't No Love, Ain't No Use" annoyed the heck out of enough people to rate #3 in April 1993, and finished in the year's top 40 sellers. After that, the group faded back into obscurity, with just one more minor hit to their credit. Almost seven years later, the same people emerged back into the inkies as the Doves. Forever ahead of the game, they'd swapped breakbeats for guitars, and were now making some jolly good indie tunes.
close your brown eyes
GLR fell over itself to play Doves records, and continued to do so in the ill-fated London Live error. National acceptance seemed a sneeze away, with singles tickling the soft underbelly of the top 40 but not crossing over to significant playlist activity. All that changed with the epic first single from the group's second album.
you turn around, life's passed you by
Beginning with a plucked guitar riff, this monster track (almost seven minutes in the single edit) conjures up an almost dreamlike state of mind. Layered guitars, vocals that are just about audible over the main tune, exhortations to lie back and think of something else add to the unreal atmosphere.
another town left behind
The motif for the track might well be a speeding train journey, as it features a heavily rythmical beat, like wheels on the rails. And it takes forever to get to the coda - almost three loops round an extended 60 bar pattern before bringing in some more lyrics.
think of me when you close your eyes
I can't not mention the equally dreamlike video, which features a middle-aged man throwing off the cares of everyday life in the supermarket for first a car journey on an LA freeway, then a train journey from London to King's Langley, Cheddington, Stafford, and the place that is clearly conjured up in the final bars of the tune.
The album, The Last Broadcast
, is already a stonking hit. The single was deleted on release in April. The video deserves to win shedloads of awards.