Kingdom of Rust was met with generally positive critical acclaim, and entered the UK Albums Chart at number 2.

Producer John Leckie, who has worked with Radiohead, The Stone Roses, and The Fall among others, was set to co-produce the entire album with the band, but was unable due to previous commitments.

Instead, Leckie produced two tracks from the album—"Winter Hill" and "10:03"[2] (as well as the B-side "Push Me On")—and the band worked with Dan Austin on the remaining nine songs.

Between previous album Some Cities and Kingdom of Rust, vocalist/bassist Jimi Goodwin lost both of his parents, guitarist/vocalist Jez Williams split up from a girlfriend after seven years together, and all three band members suffered writer's block.

[1] In the same interview, the band admitted that Kingdom of Rust became something of an "albatross" to finish, with the trio having been "obsessed over the idea that they were just repeating themselves": "If it sounds familiar, get rid [of it]," said Jez.

"[7] A documentary on the making of the album (produced by Soup Collective and directed by long-time Doves collaborator Matthew Norman), as well as a track-by-track discussion with Jimi and Andy, premiered exclusively on the official NME website in mid April 2009.

In promotion for the album, Doves appeared on Later... with Jools Holland on 14 April 2009, performing "Kingdom of Rust", "Winter Hill", and "10:03".