DOVES surprise fans and themselves by releasing a presumed lost track from their studio archive, bringing the soaring Spirit Of Your Friend out of the shadows of fan forum rumours and into the light.
Added to the track listing of their upcoming and overdue ‘Best Of…’ compilation, So, Here We Are: Best Of Doves, released on Fri 14 November 2025 with EMI North, the discovery concludes a 20-year journey for the song from inception to recent completion.
Having released their sixth studio album, Constellations For The Lonely, earlier this year and resumed touring, a commitment which continues across a further six UK live dates this December, Doves’ 2025 has seen the band embrace both an aspirational future alongside reflections on the past. Spirit Of Your Friend joins the band’s extensive catalogue of stirring, routinely epic studies on the human condition, settling into a meticulously compiled running order of certified indie playlist hits and deeper cuts of windswept, cinematic noir.
Spirit Of Your Friend was found filed alongside other songs which made the cut for the band’s 2009 UK No.2-charting album, Kingdom Of Rust, represented on the So, Here We Are… compilation by the inclusion of its title track. Notably, the first track to ever be recorded at their famed, much-missed Frank Bough III Studio in Cheshire, and with recognisable vocals provided by co-founder, bassist and vocalist, Jimi Goodwin, the band needed little convincing of its value as a late addition to the compilation following some recent finishing touches.
Multi-instrumentalist and current live front man, Jez Williams says: “I had a bad dose of writer’s block way back in 2005 and turned to the music immersion method to dig myself out. ‘Spirit Of Your Friend’ was born out of that and, at the heart of it, my aim was to bring out a sense of yearning, really amp that up both musically and lyrically. We were really surprised to find it before getting to work on pulling together the compilation’s running order, but it needed more work to get it down from its original seven minutes. It’s about friends we have lost and those we’re grateful are still with us.”
Released on multiple formats, including standard and special edition vinyl versions as well as CD and digital, So, Here We Are: Best Of Doves brings the band’s ongoing, restless exploration into songwriting and studio craft by mining from more recent albums, including 2020’s triumphant UK No.1 success, their third to hit the top of the charts, The Universal Want. By adding Carousels and Prisoners from that album, plus this year’s celebrated Record Store Day release, Lean Into The Wind, Doves’ purposeful presentation of their era-straddling work promises an open-minded approach to manipulating mood, colour and message.
Resilient to the last, Jez and drummer and vocalist Andy Williams continue to excel on stage and proudly fly the Doves flag around the UK and internationally, despite the ongoing absence of Goodwin from touring commitments. A year on from testing a bolstered line-up with a run of intimate shows, followed by the SOLD-OUT UK Constellations For The Lonely Tour and a run of 2025 summer festival dates, Doves set out again to perform on the following dates this winter:
Fri 12 Dec – Dundee, LIVEHOUSE
Sun 14 Dec – London, O2 Forum Kentish Town – SOLD OUT
Mon 15 Dec – Bournemouth, O2 Academy
Tue 16 Dec – Cambridge, Junction – SOLD OUT
Thu 18 Dec – Sheffield, Octagon
Sat 20 Dec – Manchester, O2 Apollo
Limited remaining tickets for all dates, the opportunity to sign up for future updates and limited-edition fan-only compilation formats can be found at www.dovesofficial.com
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