Few bands fit as comfortably into their locale as Doves. The Mancunian trio’s lineage locks them firmly into the municipal heritage: the Haçienda, where they mingled with the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays; and New Order/Factory Records, whose Rob Gretton once managed them.

Yet while the title track of their third album could be interpreted as a love letter to their home town, they refuse to be bound by its reputation. Indeed, the overriding sensation of Some Cities is its soul — literally, in the case of the Heatwave backbeat of Black and White Town, and metaphorically in the emotive pull of tracks such as Someday Soon (expressing unrequited love). Snowden swells with celestial choirs and fierce squalls of guitar, while both Sky Starts Falling and One of These Days expand into the sort of vast, pummelling number that has become the band’s trademark (cf. Pounding). Elsewhere, The Storm and Walk in Fire stand out like twin colonnades supporting the whole breathtaking edifice.

Jimi Goodwin and the Williams brothers make music with a huge heart, and play it with almost elemental power. Impressive stuff.

(Heavenly/EMI)

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