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Glen Hansard Between Two Shores

Glen Hansard announces 'Between Two Shores' due January 19th, 2018 via Anti-

September 28, 2017 by David Vousden in Folk, News, singer-songwriter, Tour Dates

Glen Hansard has announced the release of his third solo album 'Between Two Shores' due January 19th, 2018 via the ANTI- label. His 2015 'Didn't He Ramble' release was superb, as were the live shows in support of the album, so the RGM team are expecting great things. That appetite has been further whetted by the first new music released from the record 'Time Will Be The Healer'. Hansard will be hard at work touring all over in the wake of the album (he never stops it seems) with European dates set for February 2018. More about Glen Hansard, the new record and the first batch of tour dates follows:

Glen Hansard by Dara Munnis.

Glen Hansard by Dara Munnis.

Marking his third solo album, singer-songwriter Glen Hansard will release Between Two Shores on January 19, 2018 via Anti-. Following up 2015’s GRAMMY nominated Didn’t He Ramble, and his 2012 solo debut Rhythm and Repose, the ten-track collection was produced by Hansard himself for the first time.The culmination of more than six years of writing and recording, Between Two Shores came together in only a matter of weeks.

This past March, Hansard booked himself time at Black Box Studios in France with the original idea of taking inventory of his songbook. Working again with former Frames bandmate and producer David Odlum, Hansard was in search of a direction for his next record. As he trove through his previous sessions, various ideas and home recordings, a sketch of an unplanned record began to take shape.

The aptly titled “Setting Forth” became the catalyst for the direction Hansard hoped to achieve with Between Two Shores. Recorded with drummer extraordinaire Brian Blade and members of his Fellowship Band the song tackles themes of self-doubt in a time when it’s impossible not to be riddled with uncertainty. The album’s lead track “Time Will be the Healer” is a hopeful plea to a forlorn lover that also speaks to the way forward in the current social climate. Indeed, it would be impossible not to in some way address the politics of the day, which Hansard does in “Wheels on Fire” and its refrain of “We will overcome!”


Listen to “Time Will Be The Healer” here.
Pre-order "Between Two Shores" here.


While the record truly came together in France, Between Two Shores features material captured in New York and Chicago with a revolving cast of musicians. In addition to Blade, the record also features Thomas Bartlett, Brad Albetta and Rob Moose who appeared on much of Rhythm and Repose. However it’s Glen’s touring band - Joseph Doyle, Rob Bochnik, Graham Hopkins, Justin Carroll, Michael Buckley, Ronan Dooney and Curtis Fowlkes - that feature most prominently and take center stage on tracks like the upbeat E Street shuffle of “Roll On Slow” and the Van-tastic “Why Woman.”

The album’s title comes from Hansard's ongoing love of sailing and the sea. When one is equal distance between their starting point and their destination they are in essence “between two shores.” A less than ideal time to wonder whether you should turn back or continue on, but a thought that inevitably rears its head.

With Between Two Shores Hansard has managed to capture that feeling of the big soulful sound of his large touring band while still retaining the intimate introspective nature of his acoustic shows. To which way the wind will blow on his next record remains to be seen.

Hansard is a founding member of The Frames who celebrated 25 years as a band in 2015. He is one half of The Swell Season, which also features pianist Marketa Irglova. Together in 2007 they wrote the music for and starred in the movie Once. The song “Falling Slowly” from the film was awarded the Academy Award for Best Original song. In 2013 the film was adapted for Broadway as Once,The Musical, winning eight Tony Awards including the top musical prize itself and an Olivier award in London for outstanding achievement in music.

Glen Hansard at Red Guitar Music
Glen Hansard - This Wild Willing (Album Review)
Apr 10, 2019
Glen Hansard - This Wild Willing (Album Review)
Apr 10, 2019

After three lauded solo records and countless packed-out shows across the globe, Glen Hansard has amassed laurels aplenty upon which to rest if he were that way inclined.  Thankfully, it would appear he is not, as This Wild Willing represents a decisive step forward in the post-Once career of the onetime Frames frontman as he eases off on the Van Morrisonisms he’s become synonymous with and begins re-engaging with the boundary-pushing of his earlier work.

Read More →
Apr 10, 2019
Glen Hansard - Between Two Shores (Album Review)
Jan 17, 2018
Glen Hansard - Between Two Shores (Album Review)
Jan 17, 2018

Between Two Shores is Hansard’s third solo album and, rather than finding him adrift as its title might suggest, it sees him grounded as a solo artist for the first time.  Plenty of the songs from his first two outings would’ve passed unnoticed as Frames songs but this album really seems to put an end to all of that.  I will always associate Glen Hansard with the raw crunch and visceral angst of ‘Pavement Tune’ and the Zeppelin crashings of ‘The Stars Are Underground’ (that said, I do always seem to be about twenty years behind the times) but that urgent, exploratory rock of youth has totally given way to an effortless songwriting maturity and an altogether more seasoned approach to making records.

Read More →
Jan 17, 2018
Glen Hansard - Didn't He Ramble (Album Review)
Oct 20, 2015
Glen Hansard - Didn't He Ramble (Album Review)
Oct 20, 2015

The Frames’ redheaded frontman has come a long way since the world first glimpsed him as a scrawny, fresh-faced guitarist named Outspan in The Commitments film back in 1991.  In the same year, Hansard’s real-life group released their Island Records debut and The Frames still remain one of Ireland’s best-loved bands, nearly twenty five years on.  He returned to the big screen in 2006, via the nicely understated film Once, which was pretty much built around his music and that of Czech singer songwriter Markéta Irglová.  The runaway success of Once, now immortalised (for better or worse) by its conversion to a West End musical, marked the start of Hansard’s transition from cult star to national treasure.

Read More →
Oct 20, 2015
Live Reviews
Glen Hansard - Royal Festival Hall (09.02.18)
Feb 19, 2018
Glen Hansard - Royal Festival Hall (09.02.18)
Feb 19, 2018

I pride myself on never being late for anything.  But unavoidably late I am for Glen Hansard’s show at The Royal Festival Hall (it’s a long and boring story involving a room full of teenage guitarists - I will spare you) and I kick myself as I am ushered by torchlight to my seat and Hansard’s eleven-strong band (3 strings, 3 horns, 2 keys, drums, bass and guitar) promptly leave the stage in order that the man himself can take the piano alone.  What?!  I’ve arrived in the lull?!  Dammit!  I discover later than I’ve missed eight whole songs but, luckily for me, there’s plenty still to come.

Feb 19, 2018
Glen Hansard - The 100 Club, London
Apr 21, 2016
Glen Hansard - The 100 Club, London
Apr 21, 2016

Sometimes you really do just strike it lucky. On this occasion a last minute invitation down to the legendary 100 club in London on a Sunday night resulted in the opportunity to witness an artist with the confidence in his ability, and the ability of his band, to freewheel through a two hour plus set without the aid of a safety net, or a set list.

Apr 21, 2016
September 28, 2017 /David Vousden
Glen Hansard, The Frames, ANTI-
Folk, News, singer-songwriter, Tour Dates
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