Doves soar to new heights

Doves: Andy Williams, left, Jimi Goodwin, center, and Jez Williams.

(CNN) -- The British city of Manchester has spawned such fine bands as New Order, The Smiths, Oasis and The Stone Roses. Add a new name to that list: Doves.

The group has absorbed many influences from the Manchester music scene and produced a sound of their own.

Following their critically-acclaimed debut "Lost Souls" (released in 2000), the trio has produced a more uplifting follow-up: "The Last Broadcast."

Doves stopped by The Music Room before their main stage performance at the Glastonbury music festival in Britain on June 28.

TMR: Do you prefer touring or recording in the studio?

Jimi Goodwin (bass/vocals): We like both of them. The studio can be just as intense as a 5-week tour. "The last broadcast" was like 10 months of intensity (in the studio) which is very quick for us. You get a break from that when you start touring again and when that gets boring you want to start writing songs again.

TMR: Did you feel pressured to come up with a follow-up album to your debut?

Andy Williams (drums): I think it's very natural for us to just keeping moving on. All right, we've done " Lost Soul" and everyone's going "Great, do you feel a lot of pressure?" and we're like, "No, not at all." "Lost Soul" was part of our past. Let's move on. Each time we do a new album, it's got to be different from the last one, obviously. Because I think the best bands always mutate and kind of have a rethink on every album. Plus, where your head's at is going to change. Pretty much every two years you're not going to be thinking the same thoughts and that's going to be reflected in my songwriting.

TMR: How is "The Last Broadcast" different from "Lost Soul?"

Jez Williams (guitar/vocals): It's most obvious part is it's more up and positive.

Jimi Goodwin: It's a bit more outward-looking. Musically it's quite joyous. I like that bittersweet thing: lyrically there's still that insecurity, restlessness trying to get somewhere else. But, lyrically it's much more direct this time. It's about letting go of the past. "There goes the fear again" -- let it go. They're very direct songs. They're not as oblique or trying to be poetic for the sake of it. They're just very straightforward.

Jez Williams: I think life has gotten a bit better since making "Lost Souls." We've had a bit more success. We've done two months touring in America which have gone brilliantly -- a lot better than we could have expected -- and it wouldn't have felt right making another "Lost Souls" really. Early on in the writing process it was pretty obvious the first songs we wrote were really up and this is a really marked difference from the last record.

Andy Williams: Some people say ("The Last Broadcast") sounds like the continuation of "Lost Souls." Some people say it's completely apart. But it's very hard for us to be objective about it. We're so involved... I think we're immensely proud of "(The) Last Broadcast".

TMR: How do you share the songwriting?

Andy Williams: It's a sort of mish-mash. We write together and individually.

TMR: What do you think when you hear people say you are the new Radiohead?

Jez Williams: It's bizarre because I don't think we sound anything like Radiohead. We've got very different backgrounds. I figure we do something really different.

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