Doves, "Black and White Town"

I recently began contributing to a music website, The Singles Jukebox, for whom I used to write when it was part of the dearly departed Stylus Magazine site. TSJ is now a standalone, garnering contributions from critics far more adroit and adept than I. Still, it's nice to have an opp to hone the writing chops on a public stage, and even nicer to be clued in to current pop and rock before it goes stale.

One of the songs TSJ called to my attention this week was "Kingdom of Rust," the new single from a Manchester trio called Doves. "Kingdom" is sublime and cinematic, a meditation on the quest for an "ocean of trust," with hints of Ennio Morricone and Calexico in its shuffling arrangement. But while it's a near-lock for my year-end Top 10, it's nowhere near their best song.

That title falls to "Black and White Town," a 2005 single utterly brilliant in its conception, production, and delivery. On its surface, it's Tears for Fears covering "Heat Wave," but listen closely; there's a deferred dream in ever sustained stab at the piano, a lost and pained heart with every echoing refrain. The video captures the theme nicely, evoking the dual parts fear and confidence that are present in every kid slowly learning to love herself, every kid who's ever felt the need to leave his small town for something more colorful, more reflective of his own soul. (It's not for nothing that, like in Peanuts land, no adults exist in this video's world - these kids are raising themselves.) "Whether you live alone or you're trying to find your way in this world," Doves tell us, you've got to find it within yourself to move on and move forward. You can be urged to follow, but no one can move you for you.