Glen Hansard Shares New Single “High Hope” Ahead of Live Retrospective Release
Glen Hansard has released a new single titled “High Hope” from his upcoming album Don+t Settle – Transmissions West.
The album is scheduled to arrive on Friday, June 26, through Plateau/Secretly Distribution. “High Hope” follows the previously shared tracks “Revelate” and “Her Mercy.”
Hansard has also released a live performance video for “High Hope,” recorded during the album sessions at Berlin’s historic Funkhaus.
Part of a Two-Volume Career Retrospective
Don+t Settle – Transmissions West is the second installment of Don+t Settle – Transmissions East & West, a 20-song live career retrospective.
The project was recorded over two nights in April 2025 in front of an audience at Funkhaus. It features live reworkings of songs from across Hansard’s career, including his solo catalog, music with The Frames, and songs from The Swell Season, his Oscar-winning duo with Markéta Irglová.
The first volume, Transmissions East, was released on April 24.
Meaning Behind High Hope
Hansard described “High Hope” as a song about the possibility of returning to someone or something at a better time.
He said the track carries the feeling of a promise to reconnect in the future, while also recognizing that the original timing may not have been right.
Song Inspired by a Soldier’s Story
Hansard said the song is connected to a meeting he had with a young man outside a show in Boston. The man was preparing for active duty, and the two later exchanged letters.
According to Hansard, the letters became more emotional as the man wrote about field conditions and the loss of friends. When the correspondence suddenly stopped, Hansard feared something had happened to him.
Years later, Hansard met the man again at another Boston show and learned that he was safe.
A Live Album With No Studio Polishing
The two-volume project is being presented as several things at once: a career retrospective, a best-of collection, a live record and a new studio-style release.
According to the album announcement, the recordings include no vocal overdubs, no second takes, no autotune and no editing, preserving the raw live performance.
Glen Hansard’s Career Highlights
Hansard is a founding member of The Frames and first gained wider international attention through Alan Parker’s 1991 film The Commitments.
He later starred with Markéta Irglová in the 2007 film Once. The pair won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Falling Slowly” and went on to record and tour as The Swell Season.
Hansard began his solo career with Rhythm and Repose in 2012. His later solo albums include Didn’t He Ramble, Between Two Shores, This Wild Willing and All That Was East Is West of Me Now.
European Tour Dates Begin in July
Hansard is set to begin a European tour on July 1 with an in-store performance and signing at Tower Records in Dublin.
He will then perform at Trinity College in Dublin on July 2, followed by additional dates in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany and Italy.
Glen Hansard’s “High Hope” offers another emotional preview of Don+t Settle – Transmissions West, the second half of his ambitious two-volume live retrospective. With raw recordings from Berlin’s Funkhaus, career-spanning reinterpretations, and a story rooted in reconnection and uncertainty, the project highlights Hansard’s enduring power as a songwriter and performer.
