Doubt was a techno-rock album that refines the sample-heavy approach of Liquidizer. During the making of it, they listened to music from the likes of the KLF, Janet Jackson and Mel and Kim. Edwards, who had been consuming a large amount of popular music wanted it be a reaction to Liquidizer, exploring the influence of dance music had over rock. His lyrics had been compared to that of the Kinks frontmant Ray Davies, while the album's psychedelia overtones evoked the Beatles' late 1960s period and contemporary baggy acts the Charlatans and Happy Mondays.
Spurred on by this initial success, Food Records wanted to make Jesus Jones even more popular, urging them to make hit-sounding music. Edwards had started writing material for the next album while the label was busy with releasing Liquidizer, which had been issued in the United States by SBK Records. In that territory, three of the album's songs received significant airplay from alternative radio stations. They did not have much time to work on songs as they toured incessantly, forcing them to write while travelling. Edwards brought along a Roland sampler and keyboard to craft tracks on their tour bus. Off-days were spent in hotel rooms, where they were able to have a writing set-up.
Food Records gave the band unlimited funds, with them opting to recorded in a cheaper studio, using only a portion of the time they took on the first album. More money was spent on the mixing process and making remixes than recording itself. Keyboardist Iain Baker said Edwards was in a stressful environment, having to deliver on expectations placed on him. As such, practically every demo they had was "pressed into service, every idea had to be used" for the album.
Sessions were held at Matrix Studios in London, and due to the short time they had, they ended up completing three tracks per day. Edwards produced the majority of the songs with Clive Goddard acting as the engineer. Food Records co-founder Andy Ross produced "I'm Burning", while Martyn Phillips engineered and produced "Right Here, Right Now". The latter collaboration came about as the band enjoyed his work with the Beloved. Edwards showed Phillips a version of the track, which had samples taken from "Sign o' the Times" (1987) by Prince. As Phillips had previously got into trouble for using a sample without authorization with the Beloved, he went about altering "Right Here, Right Now". John Fryer mixed the songs, while Phil Harding and Ian Curnow remixed and did additional production on " International Bright Young Thing" and "Real, Real, Real". Baker said the latter two individuals offered "some pop gloss" to the two tracks. He remarked that the rest of the band were more enthusiastic about the production since it provided "some bass as well as treble", compared to the "tinny blast" of Liquidizer.
Doubt continued the sample-heavy direction of Liquidizer, but refined it; where the latter had found sounds and other miscellaneous audio clips, the band wanted the tracks on Doubt to be anchored around samples. The advancement of technology allowed gave them more ways of toying with samples, ranging from reversing to pitch shifting and altering the structure. The members of Jesus Jones had slowly become aware of what Baker dubbed "the sample wars", exemplified by the Turtles suing De La Soul. He said that they wanted to showcase that sample was not about stealing someone else's music, but instead making new sounds from it.
Musically, the sound of Doubt has been described as techno-rock where melodies are stronger, and the mixes are more radio-friendly – with vocals right up front", giving the album "stronger pop leanings" than what was heard on Liquidizer. Edwards said the band intentionally made Doubt to serve as a reaction to its predecessor: "making a strong statement about what rock music should be about in the '90s, which I think has less to do with the dance-rock sound than the influence of dance music on rock music, the techniques of dance music". Edwards had been consuming a substantial amount of popular music, from Mel and Kim to Janet Jackson, which he tried to emulate with the album. Alongside this, Baker said they would often be listening to Chill Out (1990) by the KLF while on tour.
The album opened with "Trust Me", the shortest song on the album, recalling the sound of Liquidizer and Time's Up (1990) by Living Colour with its acid house groove and wall of sound guitarwork. The song was influenced by samples of Formula One racing cars driving on a race track. "Who? Where? Why" uses an Eastern melody, extrapolated from an African-esque chant that Edwards found on a tape of African music that he learned from the Willesden Library in London. Baker said that a portion of that sample is played normally before it loops itself repeatedly. They had written it shorted after getting signed, as they became aware of the expectations from press outlets. The dance-rock track "International Bright Young Thing" mixes the tape loop experimentation of "Tomorrow Never Knows" (1966) by the Beatles with the contemporary beats from dance music. The song remained lyric-less until the band were on a flight from Tokyo, Japan, serving as a summarization of fans they encountered while traveling around the world. Edwards described "I'm Burning" as a "re-occurrence of the B-side that was too good syndrome", where he tried to sound like the Icicle Works.
The massive "Right Here, Right Now" was an attempt by Edwards to create a mature track, adding that audiences considered them as a flash-in-the-pan act. The song refers to the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Edwards said he came across a cover of "Sign o' the Times" that Simple Minds had done, liking their "enthusiasm for the song but not necessarily their version, but also thinking that Sign O’ The Times is a very down song, it has a very bleak view of the times". Scott Rowley of Louder said Edwards then went out to remake the song for "the, like, actual times" with "Right Here, Right Now", crafting a demo that used loops from "Sign O' the Times". "Nothing to Hold Me" features a sample of the TARDIS sound from Doctor Who, and had Edwards and Baker "speaking [from] our hearts", with Edwards saying Baker was a "man for whom tuning is only a concert for others. Like me". "Real, Real, Real" was reminiscent of the work of Happy Mondays, and has a note of a female voice edited to sound akin to an organ. The initial demo of it was influenced by Sly and the Family Stone and Jackson's Rhythm Nation (1989), as they tried to make a swingbeat track in the style of Teddy Riley.
"Welcome Back Victoria" evoked the sound of XTC and "Sunny Afternoon" (1966) by the Kinks. It features acoustic guitar parts over synthesizers and the ticking of a programmed snare drum, and talks about the double standards of the Victorian era. With "Are You Satisfied?", Edwards wanted to make a track he considered "metal house". "Two and Two" is a punk rock and pop metal song, where the band tried to evoke the sound of Sonic Youth. "Stripped" is influenced by a message that a Romanian journalist was adamant that Edwards returned home with: "Everybody is hungry / Everyone needs to know". The album concluded with "Blissed", a mellow track anchored by a synthesizer part and bird sounds, influenced by Chill Out. Inspired by a John Lennon quote about wanting to have thousands of voices on a recording.
Several critics praised the songwriting of Doubt pointing Mike Edwards' improved songwriting, as well as a better idea of how to effectively fuse guitar-rock with samples and dance-club beats". Others called the album close to a perfect fusion of rock and house" music, others were less impressed especially with Edwards songwriting and called the album something like a techno-rock synthesis has aged disastrously. Even thought Doubt was considered one of the best releases from the year. Jesus Jones had two Grammy Awards nominations: Doubt for Best Alternative Music Album and "Right Here, Right Now" for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. "Right Here, Right Now" earned a BMI and PRS award for the most played track at college radio. The band won the Best New Artist in a Video award for appearing in "Right Here, Right Now" at the MTV Awards.
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