If ever a band could seize victory from the jaws of defeat, it’s Doves. Rising, quite literally, from the flames of house outfit Sub Sub after their studio burned down at the end of the ’90s, the Manchester trio—Jimi Goodwin and twin brothers Andy and Jez Williams—alchemised a peculiarly northern strain of melancholy into soaring, atmospheric rock, scoring two Mercury Music Prize nominations in the process. Constellations for the Lonely is the group’s sixth album and their second following a decade-long hiatus, which ended with 2020’s The Universal Want. However, Goodwin’s issues with addiction and mental health meant that he was unavailable for much of the album’s recording. Rather than sounding like the work of a band in crisis, though, Constellations for the Lonely is one of Doves’ best efforts yet.
From dystopian, Blade Runner-evoking opener “Renegade” and the cinematic, neo-psychedelic sweep of “Cold Dreaming” through the aching, Smiths-like “Last Year’s Man” and closer “Southern Bell”, with its triumphant blaze of glory, Doves sound stronger than ever here. “All the issues outside of the studio were really worrying and we faced a lot of challenges, but the musicmaking itself was really good. I guess the studio was like our safe space,” Andy Williams tells Apple Music. “We had to grab Jimi when we could but there’s a certain chemistry when the three of us are in a room together. There’s a certain chemistry in the way me and Jez work together and in how Jimi works and how we can work on each other’s ideas and songs without there being any ego. Everything goes through the Doves filter.” Read on as the Williams brothers talk us through the making of Constellations of the Lonely track by track…
“Renegade” Andy Williams: “As a vocalist, Jez always brings an authenticity. This was just the rough guide vocal, there’s loads of imperfections on it, but he just nailed the mood of the song. That emotion is a million times more important than anything else. Musically, it feels quite dystopian. We were going for a bit of a Scott Walker vibe. There was a lyric in there about Piccadilly Circus and someone said, ‘Why don’t you change it to [Manchester park] Piccadilly Gardens?’ To me, the song is like Scott Walker walking around Manchester in the year 2025.”
“Cold Dreaming” AW: “We love David Axelrod and Rotary Connection. That was our attempt at creating a song from that era.” Jez Williams: “But hopefully with a modern twist. We’re not interested in replicating the past, we’ve always taken sonics from all sorts of places. There’s always an undercurrent of abstract atmospheres underneath the music moving it.”
“In the Butterfly House” AW: “This was one that Jez brought in quite early on. I really thought about the lyrical content of the song. The music was suggesting something, but I couldn’t quite grapple with what it was. I’ve always been interested in the history of murder ballads, so I thought of the image of a butterfly house where something had gone on there. I tried to create a little story about somebody coming back at night to this butterfly house and something had happened in there. It’s our subtle attempt at a murder ballad.”
“Strange Weather” JW: “This was two separate songs until we realised there was a connection between them. There was about 20 different iterations of it until we nailed it. It was an enjoyable nut to crack but it wasn’t easy. The first bit is very spacious and conjures up lots of visual images, I think, then we completely flip it on its head, and it does a complete U-turn for this mad bit at the end. We played it all the way through live, which is the key. You can’t hear the join because there isn’t one!”
“A Drop in the Ocean” JW: “I brought in that song. It was written in a completely different style, and we did a 180 on it. It was really fast originally, and we did it in half time. It was really important to bring out the soul of the track. If you listen to the production, it’s got that contemporary soul sound to it, that dark soul vibe that we were going for. We had the chorus, and Jimi came in and absolutely nailed the verses.”
“Last Year’s Man” JW: “I really like this song. It feels quite old time-y to me, it’s got a bit of a Celtic thing going on. Andy brought in the idea and then we put it through the Doves filter. My kids are 17 and 14 and, lyrically, it touches upon those feelings of not wanting them to grow up, wanting to keep them the same but everything always keeps changing.”
“Stupid Schemes” AW: “Jimi brought this one to the table. The album really needs it at that point. It was perfect. When me and Jez both heard it, it sounded a bit different for us with that psychedelic lead guitar, we don’t normally do that. It’s got this really bright, optimistic feeling to it which is perfect for the record. It’s a break from the intensity.”
“Saint Teresa” AW: “Saint Teresa was originally going to go on [previous Doves album] The Universal Want but we thought it would make it a bit overlong. We’ve never been interested in making an album with 20 songs on it that goes on for an hour and a half. It felt right for this one, though. All three of us are lapsed Catholics, so Saint Teresa figures in that. Jimi wrote the verses and I wrote the choruses. Again, Jimi delivers a great vocal here.”
“Orlando” AW: “This was one of Jimi’s. He brought it in, and we put it through the filter. I really like his vocal on that. It doesn’t directly reference anything, but I feel it’s got a feel of some of the things that he’s been through himself—there’s metaphors in there. I’ve never asked him about the lyrics on this one but to me it feels like his statement about what he’s been through.”
“Southern Bell” AW: “We’ve read that it sounded a bit like Queen, who have never been a reference for us…” JW: “I told you at the time! It’s those bloody BVs. We actually stripped it down, it was way more Queen before, there was like 60 backing vocals on it! We wanted to do a big spaghetti western thing. I sing the first bit and then Jimi comes in and does the second bit. I really wanted to try that because the story’s about two people running out of time, running out of luck, but they’re going to go out in a blaze of glory. It’s almost like a conversation between the two of them. It worked brilliantly. Immediately, I was like, ‘That’s got to be the last song on the record.’ We knew when we did ‘Renegade’, that was the first track on the record, and we knew when we finished ‘Southern Bell’ that that’s how we were going to go out.”
Tracklisting
| Position | Title |
|---|---|
| A1 | Renegade |
| A2 | Cold Dreaming |
| A3 | In The Butterfly House |
| A4 | Strange Weather |
| A5 | A Drop In The Ocean |
| B1 | Last Year’s Man |
| B2 | Stupid Schemes |
| B3 | Saint Teresa |
| B4 | Orlando |
| B5 | Southern Bell |
Apple Music
Release Images
Release Information
| Key | Value |
|---|---|
| Format | 1× Vinyl (Marble) LP, Album, Limited Edition, Stereo |
| Label | EMI North |
| Catalog Number | EMINVX 002 |
| Notes | Doves webstore exclusive limited edition marble vinyl. Gatefold sleeve. ℗&© 2025 Doves Music Limited under exclusive licence to Universal Music Operations Limited. Sleeve: Made in the E.U. Sticker: Made in Germany |
| Discogs URL | Doves - Constellations For The Lonely |