Today Glen Hansard is sharing the compelling new song ‘Sure As The Rain,’ a musical love letter to his wife and the mother of his nearly one year old son. The song features Via Mardot on theremin, whom Hansard contacted after seeing a series of her performances online. Listen below.
“It’s a song about finally being happy in the place you’re in, despite the wild instincts and longings to run to the next bright and shining thing,” Hansard explains. “A declaration of each other, as independent spirits who’ve chosen to conjoin and bring new life into our world. In short, it’s a love song. A song that recognizes the natural in each other, the love that’s growing wild and the pram in the hallway as a symbol of that grand adventure.”
Hansard is set to release his fifth solo record All That Was East Is West Of Me Now on October 20. The album came together thru a series of five word-of-mouth gigs Hansard arranged at his small local pub over the course of November 2022. “A song only becomes what it is through witness,” says Hansard, and in the presence of an audience, “the song finds a different way.” By the end of the residency, the record had taken shape and recording commenced with long time co-conspirator David Odlum at his home studio on the outskirts of Dublin.
The title, which Hansard says, stems from the “sudden realization that there’s more behind than ahead,” suggests a survey from a great height, taking in terrain travelled and yet also that which is still to be discovered. Though the passage of time may be a central theme, these eight tracks focus more on the promise for the future than thoughts of regret or nostalgia.
Four years ago Hansard released ‘This Wild Willing’, an album that Associated Press hailed “a rangy collection of experiments in musical exploration. His work demands that you listen with the same ferocity he brings to his playing and singing,” while NPR Music called it “gorgeous: expansive without sacrificing intimacy.”
Hansard also kept busy in the years between ‘This Wild Willing’ and this new album, collaborating on the Flag Day soundtrack with Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder and Cat Power, touring with Eddie Vedder as a member of The Earthlings, and reuniting with Markéta Irglová for a sold-out run of shows commemorating the 15th anniversary of the film Once.
That tour is making its way across the US now. All upcoming dates are listed below. Tickets are on sale HERE.
Glen Hansard Tour Dates
Mon 30 Oct – Palladium, London, UK
Tue 31 Oct – RNCM Theatre, Manchester, UK – SOLD OUT
Thu 2 Nov – La Cigale, Paris, France
Fri 3 Nov – Cirque Royal, Brussels, Belgium
Sun 5 Nov – E-Werk, Köln, Germany
Mon 6 Nov – Jahrhunderthalle, Frankfurt, Germany
Wed 8 Nov – Circus Krone, Munich, Germany
Thu 9 Nov – Konzerthaus, Vienna, Austria
Sat 11 Nov – Volkshaus, Zurich, Switzerland
Sun 12 Nov – Teatro Dal Verme, Milan, Italy
Tue 14 Nov – Velky sál Lucerna, Prague, Czech Republic
Wed 15 Nov – Palladium, Warsaw, Poland
Fri 17 Nov – Verti Music Hall, Berlin, Germany
Mon 20 Nov – Koninklijk Theater Carré, Amsterdam, Netherlands – SOLD OUT
Tue 21 Nov – Koninklijk Theater Carré, Amsterdam, Netherlands – SOLD OUT
Wed 13 Dec – Vicar St., Dublin, Ireland – SOLD OUT
Fri 15 Dec – Leisureland, Galway, Ireland
Sat 16 Dec – St Columbs Hall, Derry, UK
Mon 18 Dec – Ulster Hall, Belfast, UK
Tue 19 Dec – City Hall, Cork, Ireland
All That Was East Is West Of Me Now album tracklisting
1. The Feast Of St. John
2. Down On Our Knees
3. There’s No Mountain
4. Sure As The Rain
5. Between Us There Is Music
6. Ghost
7. Bearing Witness
8. Short Life
9. Reprise
