His upcoming sixth solo album is titled Don’t Settle – Transmissions East & West. The collection is wide-ranging, featuring live versions of popular songs from his solo career, his time fronting The Frames, and his work with the Oscar-winning duo The Swell Season.
Ten of these tracks will be released first on April 24 as Transmissions East (Vol. 1). A new version of “Didn’t He Ramble” from the album is now available, along with a live performance video filmed during recording at Berlin’s historic Funkhaus.
Hansard and his band recorded Don’t Settle – Transmissions East & West over two nights in front of a live audience at Funkhaus, a sprawling former East German radio facility, in April 2025. The project is a career retrospective, a ‘Best Of’ collection, a live record, and a new studio album all in one. Transmissions East (Vol. 1) is the first of a two-volume set, with the second part, Transmissions West (Vol. 2), set to appear later this year.
“I’ve always been more comfortable on stage than in a studio,” Hansard explained. “I love making records. I love the process. But the song lives before an audience. A song needs witnesses. It’s where I feel like I can really grab hold of it. And know it – the way that it’s meant to be known. So to record this album in front of an audience was incredibly gratifying. It gave the songs a new lease of life. One always hopes the songs will land, take root, and mean something new. Beauty is in the ear of the behearer.”
Ahead of the release of Transmissions East (Vol. 1), Hansard also announced a run of tour dates in the U.S. and Canada. The tour begins on March 29th at the Lodge Room in Los Angeles and includes two nights in New York City: April 8th at City Winery and April 9th at the Bowery Ballroom.
Hansard founded The Frames before gaining international fame for his role in the 1991 Alan Parker film The Commitments. His 2007 film Once, shot on a small budget, was a worldwide success, earning $23 million. Hansard and co-star Markéta Irglová won an Academy Award for “Falling Slowly.”
They later toured and recorded as The Swell Season. Their latest album, Forward, was released last year.
Hansard has released five solo albums since 2012, including Rhythm and Repose, Didn’t He Ramble, and last year’s All That Was East Is West of Me Now.