Helen O’Shea has released “Last Day of Our Acquaintance,” a duet with Australian Golden Guitar Award-winning artist Brad Butcher, honouring the late Sinéad O’Connor. The track, originally from O’Connor’s landmark 1990 album ‘I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got’, is the latest single from O’Shea’s upcoming tribute album ‘Songs In The Key Of O’, arriving May 1. Hot Press has already called it “a stunning tribute.”
The performance earns that praise. O’Shea’s interpretation leans into the song’s trance-like arrangement and plain, devastating storytelling, while Butcher’s restrained delivery adds a layer of shared heartbreak that deepens the original’s quiet devastation. Produced by two-time Grammy winner Marc Swersky, the track features strings from Nathan Bishop and Nicole Scorsone, drums from Aaron Comess, and backing vocals from Brielle Brown, Michelle Moore, and Lauren O’Shea.
“It’s always a pleasure working with like-minded artists who put the art of music making at the forefront of what they do,” Butcher says of the collaboration. “I was honoured to be invited to sing on this track and be a small part of this project.” O’Shea’s previous single, “Caged Birds,” featuring Liam O’Maonlaí of Hothouse Flowers, earned two consecutive weeks on the RTÉ Radio 1 Recommends List.
‘Songs In The Key Of O’ is a 12-track love letter to O’Connor and Dolores O’Riordan, blending originals with carefully chosen covers. The album features an impressive roster of collaborators including James Maddock, Michelle Moore (Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Choir), The Carlile Family Band, Fiona Tyndall, and more. It is engineered by Jack Daley, mixed by Seth Von Paulus, and mastered by Leon Zervos.
Limerick-born and New Jersey-based, O’Shea brings her AmeriCeltiCana sound to material that clearly means everything to her. ‘Songs In The Key Of O’ arrives May 1.
Tracklist:
- “Caged Birds” (Original, ft. Liam O’Maonlaí)
- “Rock And Roll Angel” (Original, ft. Barry Murphy)
- “Chaos” (Original)
- “Dense Water Deeper Down” (Cover, ft. Brielle Brown, Sharon Lasher, Fiona Tyndall, Jo Wymer)
- “Dreaming My Dreams” (Cover)
- “If U Ever” (Cover, ft. James Maddock)
- “Saving Grace” (Cover)
- “Last Day Of Our Acquaintance” (Cover, ft. Brad Butcher)
- “Lost” (Cover)
- “Unbecoming (KO Version)” (Original, ft. Fiona Tyndall)
- “Shine” (Original, ft. Michelle Moore)
- “There Will Be Days” (Original, ft. Caroline Carlile and The Carlile Family Band)