Writer's Block Nearly Doomed Doves

Posted on Aug 11th 2009 2:30PM by Liz Colville
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While making their fourth studio album, 'Kingdom of Rust,' Doves were reportedly close to splitting up over a case of writer's block. Released in April, the album came after a four-year hiatus following the release of 2005's 'Some Cities' and its subsequent tour.

The Manchester band, made up of drummer Andy Williams, guitarist/brother Jez Williams and lead vocalist/bassist Jimi Goodwin, took some serious R&R before holing up in a farmhouse they converted into a studio and christened "Frank Bough Sound III," after the former British sports announcer Frank Bough. But the creative juices weren't exactly flowing.

"I was finding myself getting into bad habits," Jez said in a recent interview with UK magazine Sound on Sound. "Like music avoidance -- instead of knuckling down and getting on with songwriting, you might find an excuse to get your e-mails or pop out and see your mates. So I read this amazing book ['The Frustrated Songwriter's Handbook' by Karl Coryat and Nicholas Dobson]. I'm simplifying it here, but basically what it boils down to is you have to write a song every half an hour for 12 hours. It's incredible. I had my Logic all set up as a template, everything plugged in ready to go. Then quite a few songs started to come out of these sessions."

'Rust' debuted at No. 2 on the UK album chart and the band set off on tour, playing a series of US shows in May and June followed by UK festival dates including Glastonbury and Scotland's T in the Park. But Williams recently told the Sun, "It was such hard work and it wasn't an easy ride for us, and it can't be like that again, so we're going to see what happens. I think if there is another Doves album -- and we're not sure at this moment whether there will be -- we won't be staring at a blank canvas."