Doves have released 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 ‘Best Of…’ compilation, So, Here We Are: Best Of Doves, due to be released on Friday November 14rh with EMI North. The discovery concludes a 20-year journey for the song from inception to recent completion.
‘Spirit Of Your Friend‘ was found filed alongside other songs which made the cut for the band’s 2009 UK no.2, Kingdom Of Rust, 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 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.‘
The video for the track may be seen below
The album tracklisting for So, Here We Are: Best Of Doves is as follows:
- Black And White Town
- Pounding
- Snowden
- Cold Dreaming
- Catch The Sun
- Broken Eyes
- Kingdom Of Rust
- Darker
- There Goes The Fear
- Renegade
- Prisoners
- Here It Comes
- Carousels
- Caught By The River
- Walk In Fire
- Lean Into The Wind
- Spirit Of Your Friend
- The Man Who Told Everything
- The Cedar Room
The band will playing the following live dates towards the end of the year:
DECEMBER
12 – Livehouse, Dundee
14 – O2 Kentish Town Forum, London SOLD OUT
15 – O2 Academy, Bournemouth
16 – Junction, Cambridge SOLD OUT
18 – Octagon, Sheffield
20 – O2 Apollo, Manchester
