A lifetime’s worth of collecting, selected by Dove Ellis

Welcome back to Selections, a series of artist-curated playlists from those in the know.

After relocating from Galway to Manchester, elusive Irish songwriter Dove Ellis has quietly built momentum around his live shows across the city and within London’s Windmill scene, alongside support slots for Fabiana Palladino and an opening run with Geese. That slow burn came into focus with his late-2025 debut album, Blizzard – an emotionally charged project anchored by piano and saxophone, carried by a high, expressive vocal that’s drawn comparisons to Jeff Buckley, Thom Yorke and contemporaries like Cameron Winter.

Here, he put together a playlist of treasured tracks featuring Miles Davis, Prince, Joni Mitchell and more: 15 Songs I’d Have to Pawn if My Creditors Came A-Knockin.

“These 15 numbers are all framed and hanging round my bedroom,” Ellis says. “They are a lifetime’s worth of collecting, found at conferences and antique shops, gifted by aunties and friends in foreign lands. Tomorrow I’m taking them down to the pawnbroker’s, with my two black eyes. They have to go to avoid any further visits. If you like any of these songs, please feel free to send me money via PayPal.”

Listen below.