I'm sitting at my desk on a cold, rainy morning coming to the realization that summer will be coming to a close soon. It is this time of year that I invariably turn to my go-to end of summer album, Lost Souls. Lost Souls was realeased in the U.K. in the spring of 2000, but fittingly not released in the States until October. I remember being up in the middle of the night with my daughter, watching MTV2, when the video for "Catch the Sun" came on and blew my mind. I was at the record store the next day. "Catch the sun before it's gone" is the perfect line for late August in a northern clime. I will never understand those who complain about the heat of summer. Every sunny day is a gift.
The opening track on Lost Souls, "Firesuite", sounds like what I can only imagine Manchester to be. In my mind, I see seabirds circling in cold, gray skies above a cold, gray cityscape. I can visualize guys going to work in their peacoats and knit caps. I can hear them raising hell in the pub in their fantastic Mancunian accents. Think The Fighting Gallagher Brothers. "Firesuite" sets the atmospheric theme for the entire record. At first listen, Lost Souls may seem dark and depressing, but in fact it's an album about hope and longing and escape. Escape from a place or a person or yourself. And the hope that comes from just one moment in the sun. "Here it comes. Here comes my days in the sun. Here it comes. Here comes my time in the sun. And you don't know how it feels. Here it comes. Here comes my time in the sun". That is the second chorus of track number two, "Here it Comes".
The themes of escape and longing resurface in the first verse of standout track "Catch the Sun". "Everyday it comes to this. Catch the things you might have missed. You say get back to yesterday. 'Cause I ain't ever going back. Back to the place that I can't stand, but I, I miss the way you lie. 'Cause I'm always misunderstood, pulled apart and ripped in two, but I, I miss the way you lie". Longing for the simple peace of sleep is a theme in songs like "Sea Song" and "The Cedar Room". "Sea Song" begins "Drive with me, do the things you won't believe. Drive with me, past the city and down to sea. Crushing dreams, leave me be, I cannot sleep". "The Cedar Room" is probably the best song on Lost Souls. The chorus is great; "I tried to sleep alone, but I couldn't do it. You could be sitting next to me and I wouldn't know it. If I told you you were wrong, I don't remember saying it. I don't remember saying it".
Other standout tracks are the triumphantly soaring "Rise" and the eerie closer "A House". "A House" begins and ends with a burning sound. Here are the lyrics: "It was a day like this and my house burnt down. And the walls were thin and they crashed to the ground. It was a day like this and my life unwound. You could've struck me a line and that's okay now. We could always put it together again. You could've told me a lie, and a lie so thin, so thin now everything's clear. Day after day and life goes on. And I try to see the good in everyone. If I ever find myself here again I'll give everything".
Doves, for me, are the band that defines the 2000's. Lost Souls came out in 2000 and Kingdom of Rust in 2009. In between were The Last Broadcast and Some Cities. They are all 5 star records in my opinion. This decade run is similar to The Beatles run in the Sixties and Zeppelin in the Seventies. One of my regrets is I never saw these guys live and chances are I probably never will. At least I have the records. Peace.
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