Doves‘ Jez Williams has spoken to NME about this “real labour of love” debut solo album ‘Life Of Me And You’ and plans for the future. Check out details along with the groove-driven single ‘Hollow Man’ below.
Due for release on Friday February 26, 2027, ‘Life Of Me And You’ is the guitarist’s first record released under his own name away from Manchester indie royalty Doves, Sub Sub, and Black Rivers, the band he formed in 2012 with his twin brother and bandmate Andy Williams. It also follows the Williams brothers stepping into the roles of frontmen for all tour dates after 2024’s acclaimed ‘Constellations For The Lonely‘ after Jimi Goodwin stepped back from the road to focus on his mental health.
Described as “a deeply introspective and musically adventurous album influenced by Lou Reed, UFOs, sassy ’60s pop stars, Balearic chill and ‘slow disco'”, the record comes teased by the AC/DC meets glam psych stomp of ‘Hollow Man’ – a song inspired by the “tsunamis of information” in this digital age of “too much information, too many opinions, too much, change coming from all angles”.
“I’ve been chipping away at this album in between Doves albums and tours, so it’s been a real labour of love,” Williams told NME. “I really like expressing myself in a different way. I mean, I can do the psych-melancholy listeners might expect of me and Doves all day long, but I just wanted to go into a different space.
“I wanted to make something that was very personal to me that other people would enjoy and identify with, so I needed to do this solo album for me. It’s kind of like I didn’t have a choice. I just had to do it. I had to get it out of my system, and I’m very proud of it.”
Check out the rest of our interview with Williams below, where he also opened up about album inspiration, his debut solo performances supporting Elbow in Manchester to celebrate ‘Asleep In The Back‘, and what the future holds for Doves.
NME: Hello Jez. How does it feel to have made something under your own name without Jimi or Andy?
Jez Williams: “Yeah, it feels great. Doves’ process can be quite a sprawling one. I’ve written a lot of tunes for Doves that then go through the filter of Andy and Jimi, so there’s also been a lot of ideas that I wanted to explore on my own.
“In a way, there’s a similar process involved in anything I write and record. But I was in a different headspace with my own stuff, and I wanted to go into that headspace consciously. I didn’t want it to end up sounding remotely Doves-like, whilst it still being me and probably appealing to our listeners, but I worked really intensely on creating my own sound.”
Did the act of stepping up as frontman on recent Doves tours give you a certain confidence that fed into this project?
“Definitely. Obviously, with Jimi not being well, we were faced with a stark decision about whether or not to go out on the road. But Doves’ songs are, were and will always be bigger than our individual personalities. With all three of us in agreement on that, we took the decision and it’s worked out really well.
“It did give me the confidence to step up to the mic and develop as a frontman, and that’s all fed into the album brilliantly. Even though I started writing it many years ago, it’s all come to this point. Without being too clichéd, it feels like destiny is coming to its starting point, and it starts right here with this album.”
Is it true that Doves will be on a break for a while now?
“Yes, Doves are on a touring break for a while. But the good news is that we’ve already started album seven, we’re about three or four songs in. They’re not finished, but we’re working on it, it’s in the pipeline.
“Jimi’s involved in the recordings, too, so a Doves album as people know it is on the horizon somewhere, somewhere over the brow of the hill. I don’t know when, we can’t put a timeframe on that, but we’ll be working on it.”
What can you tell us about what went into your debut solo album, sonically and lyrically?
“Lyrically, it’s very personal. The album’s called ‘Life of Me And You’, and I wanted it to be a sort of narrative, almost like someone’s talking in your ear. It’s just a very personal album.
“Sonically, I’m very proud of it. I’ve taken influences from all kinds of places. It’s got a pop sensibility because I’ve always had a deep love affair with classic pop music, so I’d like to think you can hear that throughout the album. That’s why I wanted to get further away from what listeners would recognise as ‘the Doves sound’ and do something a bit different, showing another side of myself as a musician, songwriter and producer. It’s definitely side of me that I don’t think people have heard before. I wanted to encapsulate all the great styles of music that I like.”
What were you listening to while making it?
“I went back to the classics for this album and tried to stay away from new music. I just didn’t want that to be an influence. I was heavily enjoying all sorts of things, from AC/DC to Scott Walker, Talking Heads and Lou Reed. It’s a real mishmash of influences.
“I’d like to think it’s all glued together by my voice, but it was quite exploratory. I was trying to have fun with it, because I think this album does have a fun side to it, and that was important to me. As well as being deeply personal lyrically, some of the songs have a real lightness of touch, in my opinion.”
- READ MORE: Elbow tell us about Manchester ‘Asleep In The Back’ 25th anniversary gigs and new music plans
What does it mean to be supporting Elbow at those ‘Asleep In The Back’ Manchester shows?
“It feels good, so chuffed that Guy [Garvey] and the boys are allowing me to air this album in my first live performance. I feel honoured, and it’s right in my backyard, at The Ritz in Manchester. Like I said earlier, everything’s starting to come together for this album, and I’m really looking forward to bringing the songs out of the studio.”
Will there be a full solo tour?
“Yes, there will be. So, without being too mysterious about it, watch this space and you’ll all find out…”
What can we expect from the shows? Have you put a band together? Will you drop a Doves song or two?
“I’ve been working really hard on the live aspect, so I’ve got some Manchester legends joining me, legends in the musicians’ world, anyway. We’ve got Nathan Sudders [Miles Kane, Guy Garvey, The Whip] on bass and Adam Darwen [White Flowers] on drums, who is actually from Preston. I want to keep the band small and keep it tight.
“We’re just finalising the order of songs for the Ritz gigs at the moment, and I’m concentrating on my album for now, so there won’t be any Doves songs at the first shows. However, later on, there might be. I don’t know yet, but let’s see.”
Jez Williams releases ‘The Life Of Me And You’ on Friday February 26, 2027, via Earth To Echo Records. Check out the full tracklist below:
‘Hollow Man’
‘Hurt Proof’
‘J.U.M.P.’
‘Misses Jones’
‘Walk Alone’
‘Remember Where You Came From’
‘All My Life’
‘Magnificent Morning’
‘Through It All’
‘On The Horizon’
He’ll also be supporting Elbow at their homecoming ‘Asleep In The Back’ 25th anniversary gigs at The Ritz in Manchester on November 20, 21 and 22. Visit here for tickets and more information.
The post Doves’ Jez Williams talks debut solo album ‘Life Of Me And You’: “It feels like destiny is coming to its starting point” appeared first on NME.