Doves reemerge with a new sound for a time that hits deeply, “Lean Into The Wind,” a previously unheard rambler, now with a new life of its own, they so gallantly enter the fold to say hello. Released through a limited edition AA-side 10-inch red vinyl, the cut comes alongside “Cally” to remind that, as the song would go on to show, Doves remain a band unafraid to let you know where they’re at that time, serving up the kind of beauty that only Doves can summon.
A surging, propulsive trip propelled by Jimi Goodwin, “Lean Into The Wind” works like the weather drifting in light and shadow before merging into a solemn melody and effect storm. There’s a heartbeat here, quasi-meditative, thrumming beneath layers of wailing guitar textures and expanding arrangements. Doves construct landscapes you walk into and often walk into unprepared for the emotional weight.
This song reflects that unseen struggle, those personal, often ungracious moments in which life feels like fighting against you. Instead of shrinking away, the song asks you to lean in, confront the struggle, and discover some grace in it. That feeling resonates with the larger ideas that have long underwritten melancholy woven with hope and pain filtered through beauty. This is a component of a larger mosaic, a song that is part of an album but exists all by itself. You feel its weight, you think it’s lift, and that tension, the push-and-pull between collapse and perseverance, is where Doves flourish.
The sessions that produced this track were described as hugely productive, but “Lean Into The Wind” sounds far from rushed. It has the quiet confidence of a band with an obvious direction and exact method for saying it. The band remains and is still pushing boundaries for those new to Doves and those who are not. And with “Lean Into The Wind,” they give us a song and a hand on our shoulder through the storm.
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