Glen Hansard Announces New Solo Album, This Wild Willing

Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard is releasing his new studio album This Wild Willing on April 12 via ANTI- Records. To mark the announcement, Hansard has shared the album’s lead track, “I’ll Be You, Be Me.”

The solo-turned artist built his reputation as frontman of The Frames, as well with his role in the film Once, starring alongside his former The Swell Season bandmate Markéta Irglová.

The new album was recorded at Black Box studios in Paris, and is rooted in the basis of experimentation, improvisation and spontaneous collaboration. Across the album, Hansard utilizes the support and influence of classically trained musicians the Khoshravesh brothers, and Dublin-based electronica artists Deasy and Dunk Murphy.

“This collection of songs is mainly made up of those that came through while improvising and following the melodic lines and threads. Sometimes when you take a small musical fragment and you care for it, follow it and build it up slowly, it can become a thing of wonder,” Hansard said in a statement.

In the haunting “I’ll Be You, Be Me,” we find Hansard in a compromised position of vulnerability—a disposition to which the former Dublin busker is no stranger. The track is a stylistic departure from his four previous solo albums, but fans of his early work with The Frames will find a sense of familiarity within its escalation.

Check out “I’ll Be You, Be Me,” a 2012 Hansard performance from the Paste archives and the details of This Wild Willing below. You can catch Hansard on his extensive European tour—those dates are further down.

This Wild Willing Album Art:

This Wild Willing Tracklist:
01. I’ll Be You, Be Me
02. Don’t Settle
03. Fools Game
04. Race To The Bottom
05. The Closing Door
06. Brother’s Keeper
07. Mary
08. Threading Water
09. Weight of the World
10. Who’s Gonna Be Your Baby Now
11. Good Life Of Song
12. Leave A Light

Glen Hansard Tour Dates:

March
07 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Koninklijk Theater Carré
08 – Hamburg, Germany @ Elbphilharmonie Hamburg
21 – New York, N.Y. @ Michael Dorf Presents The Music of Van Morrison
29 – Pelham, Tenn. @ PBS Bluegrass Underground Live Tapings at the Caverns

April
09 – Dublin, Ireland @ Vicar Street
10 – Dublin, Ireland @ Vicar Street
12 – Derry, United Kingdom @ St. Columb’s Hall
13 – Derry, United Kingdom @ St. Columb’s Hall
15 – London, United Kingdom @ Barbican Centre
16 – London, United Kingdom @ Barbican Centre
27 – Paris, France @ Casino de Paris
29 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Koninklijk Theater Carré
30 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Koninklijk Theater Carré

May
02 – Kobenhavn, Denmark @ Amager Bio / BETA
04 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Skandiascenen
06 – Brussels, Belgium @ Cirque Royal
08 – Cologne, Germany @ K?lner Philharmonie
09 – Frankfurt Am Main, Germany @ Alte Oper
11 – Brno-žabov?esky, Czech Republic @ 5th Anniversary of SONO Centrum
13 – Warszawa, Poland @ Palladium
14 – Warszawa, Poland @ Palladium
16 – Berlin, Germany @ Admiralspalast
17 – Berlin, Germany @ Admiralspalast
19 – Berlin, Germany @ Admiralspalast