Watching Doves: Where We're Calling From, with its plethora of additional material above and beyond the top-quality music, it's easy to forget that the Doves have only released two albums to date. This is a band that has worked tirelessly to nurture a dark but accessibly intelligent sound and image--a mix of Oasis-style pop-rock coupled with the bleak desperation of Radiohead. Thematically, the disc draws on their darker side. It has a state-of-the-art opening menu, incorporating a panoramic sub-apocalyptic cityscape, and a haunting soundtrack. This continues a theme established in some of their promo videos, which mock the fake idealism of modern society, particularly the loss of identity through consumerism ("There Goes the Fear") and the failure of planned urban utopias ("Pounding").
Mourning the demise of craftsmanship, the sepia video for "Sea Song" comprises footage of a man constructing a wooden rocking chair. Contributing to the strange, claustrophobic atmosphere of the DVD, the concert footage recorded at Cornwall's futuristic Eden project includes live performances of their greatest hits and selected album tracks. Performed in front of the eerily lit domes, the show sums up the Doves' weird mass appeal.
On the DVD: Doves: Where We're Calling From heralds a new era in music DVD by reinventing selection menus. Instead of numerous sub-menus, all of the features are included on one huge menu that can be navigated by using the left and right keys on the remote control, creating a 360-degree feel. However like an unwieldy child, the disc's interactive features need constant attention so that they behave in the way you want. --John Galilee
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