Belly's day in the sun in the '90s was brief but memorable -- after her stints in
Throwing Muses and
the Breeders,
Tanya Donelly scored an honest-to-goodness hit record with
Belly's 1993's debut album,
Star, driven by the single "Feed the Tree." Then the follow-up, 1995's
King, unexpectedly tanked, and a year later the band was done. But after a successful reunion tour in 2016,
Belly have chosen to take on that most challenging project, the reunion album, and their belated third album, 2018's
Dove, is something of a mixed bag. Despite more than two decades away from the studio,
Belly sound strong and confident on
Dove; this doesn't feel like the work of a band starting over, but one that's solid, seasoned, and plays together very well.
Donelly and
Thomas Gorman are still an estimable guitar combination, creating dense and often beautiful clouds of six-string atmosphere, while bassist
Gail Greenwood and drummer
Christopher Gorman drive the songs with an impressive balance of artful sophistication and muscle. And
Donelly's vocals are on point, and her lyrics clearly draw from the same slightly psychedelic energy that has always been her inspiration. But where
Star was a splendid exercise in dream pop that had enough energy and personality to keep things lively despite the sometimes languid textures,
Dove is a beautifully crafted album that often lacks the drive to get out of third gear. Though numbers like "Army of Clay" and "Stars Align" point to what
Belly did best in the past, most of the songs here feel a bit padded at over four minutes, and the pulse isn't as strong or commanding here as one might wish. One might reasonably expect that a more mature edition of
Belly would seem less fiery than what they delivered back in the day, and the craft of this album is all one could hope for, but there's a bit too much drift and not enough clear focus for
Dove to qualify as a true return to form.