Three decades after first emerging from Manchester’s music scene, Doves are set to mark their journey with a new Best Of release and a return to the stage: capped by a Christmas homecoming at the O2 Apollo on Saturday 20 December.
So, Here We Are: Best Of Doves
The album, So, Here We Are: Best Of Doves, is released on Friday 14 November 2025 via EMI North, and marks the band’s first retrospective collection across CD, digital and a special double vinyl edition. Alongside much-loved anthems like Black And White Town, Pounding, Catch The Sun and There Goes The Fear, the tracklist features an unearthed recording, Spirit Of Your Friend, laid down during the Kingdom of Rust sessions back in 2006 and never previously released.
The compilation takes fans on a journey through the highs of the band’s Mercury Prize-nominated debut Lost Souls (2000), right through to their acclaimed sixth studio album Constellations For The Lonely (2025). Highlights include Prisoners and Carousels from 2020’s No.1 comeback record The Universal Want, and the more recent Cold Dreaming and Renegade, showcasing their continuing creative resurgence since reuniting in 2018 after nearly a decade away.
Jimi Goodwin
Jimi Goodwin, Doves
Frontman Jimi Goodwin reflected on pulling together the tracklist:
“So, here we are… a ‘best of’ can be a difficult thing to pull off but it was surprisingly easy once we got thinking. It’s by no means complete but, then how could it be? It’s been revelatory and somehow cathartic, revising what we’ve achieved together. I mean, wow! Did we really write this stuff?”
For Manchester fans, the news that the band will headline the O2 Apollo for the first time since 2007 is particularly special. It promises to be an unforgettable pre-Christmas night, coming just two days after a newly added Sheffield show.
Doves UK Tour 2025
Fri 29 Aug – Lindisfarne Festival, Lindisfarne
Sun 31 Aug – Moseley Folk & Arts Festival, Birmingham
Fri 12 Dec – LIVEHOUSE, Dundee
Sun 14 Dec – O2 Forum Kentish Town, London
Mon 15 Dec – O2 Academy, Bournemouth
Tue 16 Dec – Junction, Cambridge
Thu 18 Dec – Octagon, Sheffield
Sat 20 Dec – O2 Apollo, Manchester
Tickets for Sheffield and Manchester go on sale at 10am on Wednesday 3 September, with early access available through album pre-orders on their website here
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