Rocktrospectiva: The Ethereal Shimmering "Some Cities" Turns 20

Released on 21 February 2005, "Some Cities" was the third studio album by British band Doves, the album became the band's second consecutive album to top the UK Albums Chart at number 1. Some Cities was conceived as a rawer, stripped-down record, and conceptually touches upon the physical changes of the band's hometown of Manchester, as well as emotional transformations. The album spawned three singles "Black And White Town", "Snowden" and "Sky Starts Falling."

After the worldwide success of Doves' second album The Last Broadcast, the band decided to take a more "stripped-down" approach to recording Some Cities, which included decamping to rural locations in England, Scotland, and Wales. We were also wanting to make a few social comments about the area we lived in. There's a lot of subject matter on that album dealing with change. Buildings get ripped down and replaced by more generic ones. It kind of gave ourselves a bit of purpose to write about it. We also listened to a lot of Motown and Northern soul, and I think that came out in that album. It was a definite change.

In a February 2005 interview with The Irish Times, vocalist/bassist Jimi Goodwin said, "Jeff Barrett from our label, Heavenly, suggested we work with William and we were fine with that, we're always up for trying new stuff. But I think we expected too much from him. He was happy just to be in the studio with us because he hadn't worked with a band since Blur. His point was he was just recording what he was hearing. He wasn't doing anything that we wouldn't do ourselves normally and we put a lot of pressure on him almost to subvert us. He's a top guy, but it just didn't work." The band subsequently co-produced Some Cities with Ben Hillier, who also mixed the album except for "Some Cities" and "Walk in Fire", which were mixed by Rich Costey. 

Much of the recording occurred at a farmhouse in the English countryside over the course of 2004, except for closing track "Ambition", which was recorded in an empty Benedictine monastery in Scotland, which the band had found while doing a photo shoot for the album. The huge reverb effect was achieved using the acoustics of the main hall. 

The album received positive reviews, praising the album, calling it "an ethereal outpouring of emotion; melancholic madness meeting soul-soaring serendipity head on, praising that Doves have cultivated a better understanding of their strengths and limitations, and Some Cities beams with a revivified looseness.

 

Some Cities Track List:  

1. Some Cities

2. Black And White Town

3. Almost Forgot Myself

4. Snowden

5. The Storm

6. Walk In Fire

7. One Of These Days

8. Someday Soon

9. Shadows Of Salford

10. Sky Starts Falling

11. Ambition