Kingdom of Rust

Production and release

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" (as well as the B-side "Push Me On")--and the band worked with Dan Austin (producer of Cherry Ghost's Thirst for Romance album; programmer for Massive Attack) on the remaining nine songs. Tom Rowlands of the electronic music duo The Chemical Brothers also provided the song arrangement for "10:03".

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. 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." The German band Kraftwerk was another stated influence for "Jetstream." In an interview with NME, the band said "House of Mirrors" is "about your past haunting you." 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. The single "Kingdom of Rust" entered the UK Singles Chart at number 28, while second single "Winter Hill" became the band's first single to fail to enter the Top 100, peaking at number 153. 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 title track can be heard in the movie Zombieland.

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

Reception

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. Both The Independent and Digital Spy awarded the album 5 out of 5 stars, 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," 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."

Track listing

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

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

Credits

1. "Jetstream"
2. Recorded at Frank Bough Sound III.
3. Mixed by Michael H. Brauer at Quad Studios, NYC.
4. Pro Tools engineer and mix assistant – Will Hensley.
5. "Kingdom of Rust"
6. Recorded at Frank Bough Sound III and Green Gates, Eyam.
7. Mixed by Michael H. Brauer at Quad Studios, NYC.
8. Pro Tools engineer and mix assistant – Will Hensley.
9. Piano – Martin Rebelski.
10. Violin 1 – Belinda Hammond.
11. Violin 2 – Oliver Morris.
12. Viola – Alexandra Fletcher.
13. Cello – Elinor Gow.
14. "The Outsiders"
15. Recorded at Frank Bough Sound III.
16. Mixed by Michael H. Brauer at Quad Studios, NYC.
17. Pro Tools engineer and mix assistant – Will Hensley.
18. "Winter Hill"
19. Recorded at Rockfield Studios and Frank Bough Sound III.
20. Mixed by Michael H. Brauer at Quad Studios, NYC.
21. Pro Tools engineer and mix assistant – Will Hensley.
22. "10:03"
23. Recorded at Rockfield Studios and Frank Bough Sound III.
24. Mixed by Dan Austin and Jez Williams at Frank Bough Sound III and Modern World Studios.
25. Arranged by Tom Rowlands.
26. Piano – Martin Rebelski.
27. "The Greatest Denier"
28. Recorded at Frank Bough Sound III.
29. Mixed by Michael H. Brauer at Quad Studios, NYC.
30. Pro Tools engineer and mix assistant – Will Hensley.
31. "Birds Flew Backwards"
32. Recorded at Frank Bough Sound III.
33. Mixed by Dan Austin and Doves at Modern World Studios.
34. Mix assistant – Zac Froud.
35. Dilruba – Baluji Shrivastav.
36. Violin 1 – Belinda Hammond.
37. Violin 2 – Oliver Morris.
38. Viola – Alexandra Fletcher.
39. Cello – Elinor Gow.
40. "Spellbound"
41. Recorded at Frank Bough Sound III.
42. Mixed by Michael H. Brauer at Quad Studios, NYC.
43. Pro Tools engineer and mix assistant – Will Hensley.
44. "Compulsion"
45. Recorded at Frank Bough Sound III.
46. Mixed by Michael H. Brauer at Quad Studios, NYC.
47. Pro Tools engineer and mix assistant – Will Hensley.
48. "House of Mirrors"
49. Recorded at Frank Bough Sound III.
50. Mixed by Dan Austin and Jez Williams at Frank Bough Sound III and Modern World Studios.
51. Mix assistant – Zac Froud.
52. Piano – Martin Rebelski.
53. "Lifelines"
54. Recorded at Frank Bough Sound III and Moolah Rouge, Stockport.
55. Mixed by Michael H. Brauer at Quad Studios, NYC.
56. Pro Tools engineer and mix assistant – Will Hensley.
57. Piano – Martin Rebelski.