Doves rediscover lost gem ‘Spirit Of Your Friend’ ahead of best of album
Doves surprise fans with the long-lost single ‘Spirit Of Your Friend,’ a soaring meditation on friendship and loss that resurfaces just in time for their upcoming So, Here We Are: Best Of Doves compilation.
Presumed lost for nearly two decades, ‘Spirit Of Your Friend’ has finally emerged from the band’s archives, joining the tracklist for their forthcoming Best Of… collection, due out November 14, 2025, via EMI North. The single was discovered among sessions from 2009’s Kingdom Of Rust—their UK No. 2-charting album—and marks the first track ever recorded at their iconic Frank Bough III Studio in Cheshire. Featuring the unmistakable vocals of co-founder Jimi Goodwin, the song finds Doves once again exploring themes of companionship, memory, and mortality through their signature mix of cinematic indie rock and emotional grandeur.
Reflecting on the creation of the unearthed single, multi-instrumentalist and live frontman Jez Williams explains:
“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.”
‘Spirit Of Your Friend’ is out now. So, Here We Are: Best Of Doves is out November 14 via EMI North. Visit www.dovesofficial.com for tickets, updates, and exclusive fan editions.
We’ve covered Doves previously: ‘Lean Into The Wind,’ ‘A Drop In The Ocean,’ ‘Saint Teresa,’ ‘Cold Dreaming,’ and ‘Renegade.’
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