Three digital singles preceded the album's release across mid-2020: "Carousels" in June, "Prisoners" in July, and "Cathedrals of the Mind" in August.

In December 2018, Goodwin and the Williams brothers announced they would be reuniting as Doves and performing at the Royal Albert Hall in support for the Teenage Cancer Trust in March 2019.

[3] Following the warm reception to the performance and additional live gigs, rumours began to circulate regarding new material being written and recorded.

If someone wasn't feeling great one day we'd reconvene at a later date whereas during Kingdom of Rust we were working solidly day-to-day; clocking in.

Goodwin was moved by the images in Lax's 2020 photobook, Some Kind of Heavenly Fire, and he gifted his bandmates a copy each.

This time around, devoid of pressure and breaking free from the shackles of expectation, Doves have produced a masterpiece of a record, which arguably could be considered their finest album to date.