Irish singer and songwriter Glen Hansard has released the second volume of his new album Don+t Settle (Vol. 2 – Transmissions West).
Having released both parts separately, Glen Hansard has just released the Transmissions West half of the double album via Plateau/Secretly Distribution.
Recorded over two evenings in April last year for a live audience at the Funkhaus in Berlin, the album is made up of reinterpretations of Glen Hansard’s back catalogue from his long music career. It’s part career retrospective, part ‘Best Of’ compilation, part live album, and still entirely new in parts.
Both halves of Don+t Settle strip away much of the artifice of modern recording techniques, forgoing vocal overdubs, multiple takes, Auto-Tune, and even most post-production editing. The result is a genuinely raw showcase of Glen Hansard's artistry, punctuated throughout by applause from the live audience.
The inspiration for Transmissions East and West stemmed from a memorable concert in The Hague, the Netherlands, where Glen Hansard and his band were performing at an outdoor venue when a sudden downpour swept through the crowd.
Rather than pause the show, Hansard invited a section of the audience onto the stage to shelter from the rain, creating an unforgettable moment of shared intimacy.
“I’ve never shied away from an opportunity to have the audience come up and sit right in among the band,” says Glen Hansard. “The most memorable concerts are the ones where nature just does what it does, and then you have to adapt.”
As can be expected from an album that functions largely as a journey through the songbook of a musician with a long career, the genres on Don+t Settle (Vol. 2 – Transmissions West) vary hugely — ranging from hypnotic, acoustic ballads to fiery rockers with barely-concealed rage, the most consistent thing about the album is the concentration of Hansard’s considerable talent, as well as his intense vocal performances.
For people who might not be familiar with Hansard, this double album is a great way to get used to him quickly, encompassing his solo work, his work with The Frames, and with Markéta Irglová as The Swell Season — and it’s definitely worth a listener’s time.
