Scottish trio One Dove found themselves branded with the trip-hop label after releasing their debut Morning Dove White in 1993. It wasn’t a label undeserved, really, since the group’s expansive, five-minute plus opuses tended to obscure the catchy hooks underneath layers and layers of shuffled beats, foggy synths, and in the case of the original “Guitar Paradise Mix” of the album’s lead single, “White Love,” squealing electric guitar.
Where the “Guitar Paradise Mix” meanders for more than ten minutes, the Stephen Hague radio mix of “White Love” (download) gets right to the point, pushing the melody to the front, beefing up the dancier aspects of the song and putting vocalist Dot Allison in center stage. The tinkering resulted in a decent-sized modern rock radio hit for the band, a dance floor smash, and a video in regular rotation on MTV, no small feat for a dance act in the age of grunge:
Same deal with Morning Dove White‘s second single, “Breakdown” – the original “Cellophane Boat Mix” (download) was a much more dubby affair with a drowsy Allison vocal, while whiz kid Hague’s superior radio mix (download) strips the song down to its hooky essentials, energizing the vocals in the process. “Breakdown” also has some neat wordplay, as Allison laments a lost love to the moon:
I remember the night you left me
The moon was full, I felt empty
Tides and werewolves may be turned
But you don’t know how to cry
Sadly, Morning Dove White would be One Dove’s only released album. A follow-up was recorded, then shelved before the band called it quits. A few years later, Dot Allison resurfaced with two excellent solo efforts that continued in a more electronica vein. She’s still recording with a new album due next year. Morning Dove White is currently out of print in the States, not even available on iTunes, which is a shame. There is, however, an recently remastered import that’s not too pricey on Amazon. If you like expansive trippy electronica with some tasty hooks thrown in, it’s a keeper.
“White Love” peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play Chart and at #14 on the Modern Rock Chart in 1993.
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