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Sep 8, 2020Their fifth album comes with a cathartic feel. Densely layered - four of the 11 tracks are over five minutes - it's also as complex as a Rubik's cube, the elaborate arrangements owing more to progressive rock than contemporary pop. [Oct 2020, p.38]
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Sep 14, 2020The Universal Want is about learning to live with desires we can never fully satisfy, accepting the highs and lows of a cyclical existence. Doves transcend time on The Universal Want, a graceful rebirth that not only justifies their reformation, but also serves as a reminder of the ability they had all along.
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Sep 11, 2020Doves has stayed true to their sound and as the result they have made an album that fans will want to listen to over and over.
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Sep 11, 2020For obvious reasons, mournfulness can provide comfort at a time like this, especially when presented with the kind of sincerity, wisdom, and songwriting skill that Doves haven't lost in their time away.
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Sep 11, 2020Familiarity isn’t a bad thing when it’s done well, if we refer back to the four cycles of reformation, Doves land firmly in the bands who have their fire relit by a break category, The Universal Want is Doves in essential form.
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Sep 11, 2020There is something about the tension and balance afforded by Doves’ lyrical and melodic heaviness, the pounding thrill of their hard-driven grooves, and the glittering psychedelic detail of cinemascopic arrangements, that is mesmeric and compelling.
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Sep 10, 2020New album The Universal Want manages to feel relevant, but not preachy.
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Sep 10, 2020Once again, Goodwin provides language and welcome company for the search we’re all on—for meaning, for hope, for resonance—whether we’re cognizant of it or not. The Universal Want is a most welcome return from an important band given a well-deserved respite.
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Sep 10, 2020For the most part The Universal Want lives up to that triumphant return presaged in Carousels. Calling back to various touch points from Doves’ career to date, it’s a fitting summation even if not a culmination or a career peak.
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Sep 10, 2020It’s all heartfelt, well done and audibly the work of a band more interested in consolidating their original audience than attempting to lure the teenagers away from Joel Corry and TikTok. The music follows suit.
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MojoSep 8, 2020Regular producer Dan Austin teases atmosphere, buries mysterious sampled speech and navigates the piano-led title track bank into Hacienda territory. What kept them? [Oct 2020, p.90]
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Q MagazineSep 8, 2020This is heavy, yes, but it's never leaden. ... With The Universal Want - sad, wary, yet still alert to life's thwarted beauty - Doves are in the right place, the right time. [Sep 2020, p.106]
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Sep 8, 2020With fluidity and ease aplenty, the ten songs on ‘The Universal Want’ render a soulful, elevated journey visiting outer and inner locations, providing the listener with a sense of fulfilment.
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Sep 8, 2020It may have taken over a decade for Doves to pour their souls into ‘The Universal Want’ but if it turns out to be their final transmission, it will be a worthy closing chapter to their epic legacy.
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Sep 11, 2020Every track on The Universal Want has a warmth to it that is absent on most reunion albums.
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Sep 21, 2020The Universal Want's strengths lie in a series of inspired moments rather than it coming together as a satisfying whole.
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Sep 14, 2020The Universal Want troubleshoots wisely—keep the tempos at a brisk jog, dabble in Afrobeat, Motown, and cinematic soul rather than prog, and watch the clock. Whereas Kingdom of Rust felt like twice its hourlong runtime, Universal Want is Doves’ first filler-free album, floating by like a warm breeze.
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Rolling StoneSep 8, 2020Doves amble as they surge, swirling in a middle distance between Radiohead and Coldplay. [Sep 2020, p.68]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 11 out of 12
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Mixed: 0 out of 12
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Negative: 1 out of 12
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Dec 24, 2020
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Sep 15, 2020An absolute blinder of an album! Been waiting for this, it didn't disappoint, they never do!
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Sep 11, 2020