The year was 2000. I had just begun my junior year of high school. I was at Newport Music Hall on Ohio State campus, seeing P.O.D. in one of the last vestiges of my adolescent nu-metal fixation, when I picked up my first copy of CMJ New Music Monthly. CMJ was unlike any other magazine I’d ever encountered in that it came packaged with a CD full of new music. I don’t know how they decided which songs they included on those comps, but I am eternally grateful for whoever programmed the November 2000 issue. That was a fascinating mix: “B.O.B.” by Outkast, “Teenage Dirtbag” by Wheatus, “Minority” by Green Day, “Dig” by Mudvayne, Johnny Cash’s “I Won’t Back Down” cover. But two songs on the mix caught my attention in particular. One was “Once Around The Block” by Badly Drawn Boy, which would soon turn me on to one of my favorite albums ever. The other was “Catch The Sun” by Doves.

Over the course of the next decade, Doves would go on to become one of the great unsung post-Britpop UK rock bands. The fuzzed-out and melodic “Catch The Sun” represented only one part of their skill set. As heard on “There Goes The Fear,” they were also like manna for the crowd who wished Radiohead would keep remaking The Bends — or, like, anyone with a fondness for subtly complex, moody yet brightly melodic guitar music. They were a great band. I spent a lot of time with their first few albums, but by the time they announced an indefinite hiatus in 2010, I had largely lost track of them. So I’m happy to report that, after teasing a reunion last week, Jimi Goodwin and the boys have officially announced their first show in nine years.

In a message on Facebook, they write, “The waiting is over! In 2010 Doves announced an indefinite pause. Nothing lasts forever. Doves will break their hiatus to perform for the Teenage Cancer Trust at the Royal Albert Hall, London on Friday 29 March 2019. Tickets go on sale Friday 9am. More announcements to follow.”

“More announcements to follow!” New Doves music at this late date is an extremely intriguing proposition. Get stoked!