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Kingdom of Rust

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For the album's title track and lead single, see Kingdom of Rust (song).

Kingdom of Rust
Studio album by
Doves
Released6 April 2009 (2009-04-06)
Recorded2006–2009
Studio
GenreIndie rock
Length50:00
LabelHeavenly
ProducerDoves, Dan Austin, John Leckie
Doves chronology
Some Cities
(2005) 		Kingdom of Rust
(2009) 		The Places Between: The Best of Doves
(2010)
Doves studio album chronology
Some Cities
(2005) 		Kingdom of Rust
(2009) 		The Universal Want
(2020)
Singles from Kingdom of Rust
  1. "Kingdom of Rust"
    Released: 30 March 2009
  2. "Winter Hill"
    Released: 20 July 2009
  3. "House of Mirrors"
    Released: 7 December 2009 (promo only)

Kingdom of Rust is the fourth studio album from British indie rock band Doves. The album was released on 6 April 2009 in the UK via Heavenly Recordings. Kingdom of Rust was met with generally positive critical acclaim, and entered the UK Albums Chart at number 2. Two singles were released from the album: the title track, released a week prior to the album in March 2009, which charted at number 28 on the UK Singles Chart; and "Winter Hill", released in July 2009, which became the band's first single not to chart in the top 100.

The album was born from a tumultuous time in Doves' history,[1] and followed a four-year gap between their last album Some Cities in 2005, at the time the longest period between albums from the band. Doves would tour to promote the album throughout 2009, culminating in a recording hiatus in 2010 which would subsequently last until 2020.

Production

The band recorded the album in a converted farmhouse barn in Cheshire, England over the course of 2006 through early 2009. Producer John Leckie, who has worked with Radiohead, The Stone Roses, and The Fall among others, was set to co-produce the entire album with the band, but was unable due to previous commitments. Instead, Leckie produced two tracks from the album—"Winter Hill" and "10:03"[2] (as well as the B-side "Push Me On")—and the band worked with Dan Austin on the remaining nine songs. Tom Rowlands of the electronic music duo The Chemical Brothers also provided the song arrangement for "10:03".[3]

The album was borne out of a strained writing and recording process. Between previous album Some Cities and Kingdom of Rust, vocalist/bassist Jimi Goodwin lost both of his parents, guitarist/vocalist Jez Williams split up from a girlfriend after seven years together, and all three band members suffered writer's block. "You'd think, 'Great, the amount of material I'll get from this' – but it went the opposite way. I couldn't concentrate on anything," Jez said in an interview with Simon Hattenstone of The Guardian.[1] In the same interview, the band admitted that Kingdom of Rust became something of an "albatross" to finish, with the trio having been "obsessed over the idea that they were just repeating themselves": "If it sounds familiar, get rid [of it]," said Jez. "That was the golden rule."[1]

Release

The album was preceded by first single "Kingdom of Rust" on 30 March 2009. Doves also offered the album's lead track "Jetstream" as a free download on their website, starting from 28 January 2009.[4] Regarding "Jetstream", the band mentioned being fans of the Vangelis score to Blade Runner, and wrote the song as "an imaginary song for the closing credits on Ridley Scott's classic."[5] The German band Kraftwerk was another stated influence for "Jetstream".[6] In an interview with NME, the band said "House of Mirrors" is "about your past haunting you."[7] A documentary on the making of the album (produced by Soup Collective and directed by long-time Doves collaborator Matthew Norman), as well as a track-by-track discussion with Jimi and Andy, premiered exclusively on the official NME website in mid April 2009.[8] The single "Kingdom of Rust" entered the UK Singles Chart at number 28,[9] while second single "Winter Hill" became the band's first single to fail to enter the Top 100, peaking at number 148.[9] A third single release for "House of Mirrors" was canceled.

In promotion for the album, Doves appeared on Later... with Jools Holland on 14 April 2009, performing "Kingdom of Rust", "Winter Hill", and "10:03". They later appeared on the American late-night talk shows Last Call with Carson Daly on 28 May 2009, which featured a pre-recorded video of the band performing "Kingdom of Rust" live at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles on 16 May 2009, and then on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on 5 June 2009, performing "The Outsiders".

The album is dedicated to Jimi Goodwin's father, Francis James Goodwin, who died on 23 December 2008.

In a 2010 interview discussing the band's first best-of compilation album The Places Between, Goodwin elaborated on the band's collective desire to take a break from recording and touring after Kingdom of Rust, a routine he described as an "album-tour-album-tour treadmill": "After Kingdom of Rust, we really do need to recharge the batteries in that respect... It's nice just to have a bit of breathing space. We just wanted to get off that whole album-tour-album-tour treadmill. None of us are ready to face going into the studio for another two years."[10] The band then embarked on a recording hiatus, which subsequently lasted until 2020 and their fifth studio album The Universal Want.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic77/100[11]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
The Guardian[13]
Mojo[14]
NME8/10[15]
Pitchfork7.2/10[16]
Q[17]
Rolling Stone[18]
Spin[19]
Uncut[20]

Kingdom of Rust was met with positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 77, based on 23 reviews.[11] Both The Independent and Digital Spy awarded the album 5 out of 5 stars,[21][22] Gigwise gave the album 4.5 out of 5 stars and noted that the album is "the most daring album of Doves' career to date,"[23] and The Observer noted in a glowing review that, "Previous albums never quite lived up to the band's facility for knockout singles, but this one holds the attention. There's a dreamy, addictive sadness to proceedings, their customary gruff melancholy now inflated to match the panoramic setting."[24]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Jez Williams, Jimi Goodwin, and Andy Williams

No.TitleLength
1."Jetstream"5:30
2."Kingdom of Rust"5:11
3."The Outsiders"3:28
4."Winter Hill"5:18
5."10:03"4:04
6."The Greatest Denier"3:59
7."Birds Flew Backwards"2:51
8."Spellbound"5:39
9."Compulsion"5:14
10."House of Mirrors"4:20
11."Lifelines"4:26
iTunes-only bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
12."Ship of Fools"4:29
13."The Last Son"4:49
Japan bonus track
No.TitleLength
12."Push Me On"3:55

Release history

Country Date Label Format Catalogue #
Germany 3 April 2009 EMI CD 5099969313424
United Kingdom 6 April 2009 Heavenly Recordings/Virgin Records CD HVNLP67CD
Double LP (heavyweight vinyl; gatefold sleeve) HVNLP67
Digital download (two bonus tracks) iTunes exclusive
United States 7 April 2009 Astralwerks CD 5099969313424 (ASW 93134)
Digital download (two bonus tracks) iTunes exclusive
21 April 2009 Heavenly/Virgin Double LP (heavyweight vinyl; gatefold sleeve) HVNLP67/ASW 96959 (same as UK pressing)
Japan 22 April 2009 Toshiba-EMI CD (one bonus track) TOCP-66879

Instrumentals of Rust

On 15 June 2009 (2009-06-15), instrumental versions of all 11 tracks on the album were released as Instrumentals of Rust, exclusively to digital download outlets worldwide.

Track listing

  1. "Jetstream" (Instrumental) – 5:32
  2. "Kingdom of Rust" (Instrumental) – 5:13
  3. "The Outsiders" (Instrumental) – 3:29
  4. "Winter Hill" (Instrumental) – 5:20
  5. "10:03" (Instrumental) – 4:05
  6. "The Greatest Denier" (Instrumental) – 3:59
  7. "Birds Flew Backwards" (Instrumental) – 2:54
  8. "Spellbound" (Instrumental) – 5:42
  9. "Compulsion" (Instrumental) – 5:16
  10. "House of Mirrors" (Instrumental) – 4:18
  11. "Lifelines" (Instrumental) – 4:25

Release history

Country Date Label Format
Europe 15 June 2009 Heavenly Records Digital download
North America 16 June 2009 EMI

Credits

  • All songs written by Jez Williams, Jimi Goodwin, and Andy Williams.
  • All instruments played by Doves except where stated.
  • Produced by Doves and Dan Austin, except:
    • "Winter Hill" and "10:03" produced by John Leckie and Doves.
  • Engineered by Dan Austin, except:
    • "Winter Hill" and "10:03" engineered by Adam Whittaker and Dan Austin.
  1. "Jetstream"
    • Recorded at Frank Bough Sound III.
    • Mixed by Michael H. Brauer at Quad Studios, NYC.
    • Pro Tools engineer and mix assistant – Will Hensley.
  2. "Kingdom of Rust"
    • Recorded at Frank Bough Sound III and Green Gates, Eyam.
    • Mixed by Michael H. Brauer at Quad Studios, NYC.
    • Pro Tools engineer and mix assistant – Will Hensley.
    • Piano – Martin Rebelski.
    • Violin 1 – Belinda Hammond.
    • Violin 2 – Oliver Morris.
    • Viola – Alexandra Fletcher.
    • Cello – Elinor Gow.
  3. "The Outsiders"
    • Recorded at Frank Bough Sound III.
    • Mixed by Michael H. Brauer at Quad Studios, NYC.
    • Pro Tools engineer and mix assistant – Will Hensley.
  4. "Winter Hill"
    • Recorded at Rockfield Studios and Frank Bough Sound III.
    • Mixed by Michael H. Brauer at Quad Studios, NYC.
    • Pro Tools engineer and mix assistant – Will Hensley.
  5. "10:03"
    • Recorded at Rockfield Studios and Frank Bough Sound III.
    • Mixed by Dan Austin and Jez Williams at Frank Bough Sound III and Modern World Studios.
    • Arranged by Tom Rowlands.
    • Piano – Martin Rebelski.
  6. "The Greatest Denier"
    • Recorded at Frank Bough Sound III.
    • Mixed by Michael H. Brauer at Quad Studios, NYC.
    • Pro Tools engineer and mix assistant – Will Hensley.
  7. "Birds Flew Backwards"
    • Recorded at Frank Bough Sound III.
    • Mixed by Dan Austin and Doves at Modern World Studios.
    • Mix assistant – Zac Froud.
    • Dilruba – Baluji Shrivastav.
    • Violin 1 – Belinda Hammond.
    • Violin 2 – Oliver Morris.
    • Viola – Alexandra Fletcher.
    • Cello – Elinor Gow.
  8. "Spellbound"
    • Recorded at Frank Bough Sound III.
    • Mixed by Michael H. Brauer at Quad Studios, NYC.
    • Pro Tools engineer and mix assistant – Will Hensley.
  9. "Compulsion"
    • Recorded at Frank Bough Sound III.
    • Mixed by Michael H. Brauer at Quad Studios, NYC.
    • Pro Tools engineer and mix assistant – Will Hensley.
  10. "House of Mirrors"
    • Recorded at Frank Bough Sound III.
    • Mixed by Dan Austin and Jez Williams at Frank Bough Sound III and Modern World Studios.
    • Mix assistant – Zac Froud.
    • Piano – Martin Rebelski.
  11. "Lifelines"
    • Recorded at Frank Bough Sound III and Moolah Rouge, Stockport.
    • Mixed by Michael H. Brauer at Quad Studios, NYC.
    • Pro Tools engineer and mix assistant – Will Hensley.
    • Piano – Martin Rebelski.
  • Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering, Portland, Maine.
  • Sleeve design by Rick Myers; shot on location at Northlandz, Flemington, New Jersey.
  • Band photo by Deirdre O'Callaghan.
  • For Francis James Goodwin (9 May 1943 – 23 December 2008).

Charts

Chart (2009) Peak
position
UK Albums Chart[9] 2
Irish Albums Chart[25] 8
Australian Albums Chart[26] 34
Belgian Albums Chart[27] 72
Canadian Albums Chart[28] 79
US Billboard 200[29] 89

References

  1. ^ a b c Hattenstone, Simon (27 April 2009). "Doves: 'We never wanted to be rock stars'". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  2. ^ Doves Releasing "Kingdom of Rust" – Glide Magazine
  3. ^ Buzzine >> Doves Announce Spring Tour[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ "Doves Kingdom of Rust Album Details Revealed". Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
  5. ^ New Doves – "Jetstream" – Stereogum
  6. ^ "Jetstream – SongFacts". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  7. ^ "House of Mirrors – SongFacts". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  8. ^ NME.com – Doves
  9. ^ a b c Doves – Chart Stats
  10. ^ Cadden, Avril (28 April 2010). "Doves plan to fly again following post-RockNess break". Daily Record. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  11. ^ a b "Doves: Kingdom of Rust (2009): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
  12. ^ Leahey, Andrew. "Kingdom of Rust – Overview". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
  13. ^ Petridis, Alexis (3 April 2009). "Pop review: Doves, Kingdom of Rust – Music – The Guardian". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
  14. ^ Mojo, May 2009 issue, p.97
  15. ^ Woodhouse, Alan (2 April 2009). "NME Album Reviews: Doves – Kingdom of Rust". NME. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
  16. ^ Berman, Stuart (15 April 2009). "Pitchfork: Album Reviews: Doves: Kingdom of Rust". Pitchfork. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
  17. ^ Q magazine, May 2009 issue, p.108
  18. ^ Rolling Stone RS 1076, 16 April 2009
  19. ^ Modell, Josh (19 March 2009). "Doves, 'Kingdom of Rust' (Astralwerks/Heavenly) – Spin Magazine Online". Spin. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
  20. ^ Martin, Piers. "Doves – Kingdom of Rust – Review – Uncut.co.uk". Uncut. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
  21. ^ link Music – Album Review – Doves: 'Kingdom of Rust' – Digital Spy
  22. ^ Album: Doves, Kingdom of Rust (Heavenly) – Reviews, Music – The Independent
  23. ^ Doves – 'Kingdom of Rust' (Heavenly Records) Released 06/04/09 – GIGWISE
  24. ^ Rock review: Doves, Kingdom of Rust | Music | The Observer
  25. ^ irishcharts.com – Discography Doves
  26. ^ Australian Charts – Doves Archived 19 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  27. ^ ultratop.be – Doves
  28. ^ Doves > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums
  29. ^ Billboard – Artist Chart History – Doves
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