Glen Hansard is set to release an ambitious 22-song career retrospective, Don’t Settle – Transmissions East & West, a two-volume collection featuring live reinterpretations of his most cherished work. The first installment, Transmissions East (Vol. 1), will arrive on April 24, 2026, via Plateau and Secretly Distribution, with Vol. 2 (West) following later this year.
Recorded over two nights in April 2025 at Berlin’s historic Funkhaus—the former East German radio headquarters—the album serves as a unique hybrid of a career-spanning "best of," a live record, and a raw studio project. The collection covers Hansard’s solo output, his tenure as the frontman of The Frames, and his Oscar-winning work with Markéta Irglová in The Swell Season.
The project’s raw, communal spirit was inspired by a 2024 performance in The Hague, where Hansard invited fans onstage during a rainstorm. Mirroring that authenticity, the Funkhaus recordings feature no vocal overdubs, autotune, or digital editing, brilliantly capturing the grit and honesty of Hansard’s live performance.
To mark the announcement, Hansard shared a new version of "Didn’t He Ramble," a tribute to his late father. "My father showed his love shoulder to shoulder, not face to face," Hansard reflects. "I loved him very much and wanted to write him a tribute song he’d enjoy. I raise my voice and a glass to Jemo Hansard."
The release of Vol. 1 precedes an extensive UK and European headline tour kicking off in late April. After dates in Paris, Berlin, and Vienna, the tour heads to the UK for a run of shows including Bristol Beacon (May 19), Glasgow Barrowland (May 20), Manchester Albert Hall (May 22), and a highly anticipated night at London’s Roundhouse on May 23. The tour concludes with a major homecoming show at Trinity College Dublin on July 2.
Transmissions East (Vol. 1) will be available on CD, black vinyl, and a special D2C solid grey edition. For fans of one of Ireland's most poignant songwriters, this collection represents a vital "transmission" between the artist's storied past and his creative future.
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