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Helen O’Shea and Brad Butcher Deliver a Quietly Devastating Sinéad O’Connor Tribute

Eric Alper
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Helen O’Shea and Brad Butcher Deliver a Quietly Devastating Sinéad O’Connor Tribute

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:

  1. “Caged Birds” (Original, ft. Liam O’Maonlaí)
  1. “Rock And Roll Angel” (Original, ft. Barry Murphy)
  1. “Chaos” (Original)
  1. “Dense Water Deeper Down” (Cover, ft. Brielle Brown, Sharon Lasher, Fiona Tyndall, Jo Wymer)
  1. “Dreaming My Dreams” (Cover)
  1. “If U Ever” (Cover, ft. James Maddock)
  1. “Saving Grace” (Cover)
  1. “Last Day Of Our Acquaintance” (Cover, ft. Brad Butcher)
  1. “Lost” (Cover)
  1. “Unbecoming (KO Version)” (Original, ft. Fiona Tyndall)
  1. “Shine” (Original, ft. Michelle Moore)
  1. “There Will Be Days” (Original, ft. Caroline Carlile and The Carlile Family Band)

New York Songwriter Lawrence Kim Asks the Hard Questions on New Single “Line and Key”

Eric Alper
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New York Songwriter Lawrence Kim Asks the Hard Questions on New Single “Line and Key”

Lawrence Kim is making his solo debut count. The New York City-based songwriter releases “Line and Key,” the second single from his forthcoming debut album ‘The Hours And The Times’, due May 15. The track features Kid Millions (Oneida, Man Forever) and Eoin Russell (Songs: Ohia) on pedal steel, with mixing by John Agnello. A video, continuing the black-and-white Brooklyn visual saga directed by Meredith Truax, is out now on YouTube.

“Line and Key” carries a deceptively simple question at its core: “Will you ever learn?” It is the kind of track that earns repeated listens, layered and unhurried, with the kind of depth that only comes from assembling exactly the right collaborators. Kim wrote, produced, arranged, played, and sang the bulk of ‘The Hours And The Times’ himself, then brought in a well-chosen cast of contributors to round out the record.

That guest list is worth noting. Alongside Kid Millions and Russell, the album features Emma Tricca, Rachel Cox (Oakley Hall), Alexandra Helgerson, Stephen Chen (Ghost Funk Orchestra, San Fermin), Peter Hess (Philip Glass Ensemble), Dana Lyn, and more. Kim, a former member of BMX Bandits, Scam Avenue, and The Amber Smith, and touring guitarist for Ryn Weaver, spent years in bands before turning inward. “I like being in bands,” he says. “It’s like being in a gang. Us versus the world.”

‘The Hours And The Times’ is, by Kim’s own description, an album about being alone, which is not necessarily the same thing as being lonely. “I didn’t set out to make an album around that,” he says, “but that’s what I ended up with.” The record’s first single, “Madeleine,” arrived last month alongside a super 8 video also directed by Truax.

The album release show is set for May 17 at Mama Tried in Brooklyn, 4pm. ‘The Hours And The Times’ arrives May 15.

Tracklist:

  1. New Jetsetter
  2. Sawyer
  3. Madeleine
  4. Rodeo (ft. Emma Tricca and Rachel Cox)
  5. Best Western
  6. Escape Artist (ft. Rachel Cox)
  7. Line and Key (ft. Kid Millions)
  8. Diver
  9. Go Lay Yourself Down Again

Jam Bands Meet Academia: Phish Studies 101 Turns the Groove Into a Graduate Seminar

Eric Alper
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Jam Bands Meet Academia: Phish Studies 101 Turns the Groove Into a Graduate Seminar

There are college courses about The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and hip-hop culture. Now add another to the syllabus: Phish. Yes, the band whose concerts can stretch songs into half-hour improvisational journeys is now the subject of organized academic study. Welcome to Phish Studies 101, where the jams get analyzed, the fans become scholars, and the music is treated like a living, breathing text.

Run by the Phish Studies Association, the online course series invites fans, researchers, and curious listeners to explore the music and culture surrounding the legendary jam band. The next session takes place March 25, 2026, from 8:00 to 9:30 p.m. EST, and costs $25 – or comes included with a $40 annual membership in the organization.

And this is not just a fan club with a PowerPoint.

The classes feature music scholars who break down Phish’s improvisational techniques, compositional structures, and the mechanics behind those sprawling jams that can turn a three-minute song into a cosmic expedition. In previous sessions, participants dove deep into how the band constructs its improvisations, examining rhythm shifts, harmonic movement, and the collective musical intuition that makes each performance unique.

Think of it as part music theory, part cultural studies, and part guided tour through the weirdest and most joyful corners of jam-band history.

Phish Studies 101 first launched in October 2024 with three online classes and a guided listening session where scholars dissected some of the band’s most famous jams. The response was strong enough that the program now runs twice a year – once in the spring and once in the fall – giving fans regular chances to go full music-nerd on their favorite band.

Membership in the Phish Studies Association comes with more than just access to the classes. Members receive newsletters, announcements about conferences, calls for academic papers, and updates about new publications exploring the band from scholarly perspectives. In other words, if you have ever wanted to write a serious paper about a 28-minute live version of “Tweezer,” this is your crowd.

The idea of studying a jam band in an academic setting might sound unusual, but it fits perfectly into the growing field of popular music scholarship. Universities have long studied jazz improvisation, folk traditions, and rock history. Phish, with its massive live archive, devoted fan community, and constantly evolving performances, offers a rich musical ecosystem to explore.

Besides, anyone who has spent time at a Phish show knows that the music already feels like an ongoing experiment.

Now, there is just a syllabus to go with it.

DoYeon Kim’s Debut Album ‘Wellspring’ Is a Volcanic Statement From a Fearless Improviser

Eric Alper
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DoYeon Kim’s Debut Album ‘Wellspring’ Is a Volcanic Statement From a Fearless Improviser

DoYeon Kim is stepping forward as a leader. The New York-based, Seoul-born improviser and composer announces her debut album ‘Wellspring’, arriving May 1 on TAO Forms. Playing the gayageum, a traditional Korean silk-string zither, Kim is joined by drummer Tyshawn Sorey, double-bassist Henry Fraser, and Mat Maneri on viola. The lead preview, “The Beats of Distant Thunder,” is out now, weaving Korean lullabies, relentless string-and-drum dialogue, and pure instrumental expression into a striking introduction.

‘Wellspring’ is all Kim compositions and group improvisations, built on immediacy and gusto. The album draws on folk universalism, free improvisation, and a restless creative vision that the Grammy/Recording Academy has described as connecting the gayageum’s origins to innovators like Thelonious Monk, Cecil Taylor, and Anthony Braxton. It rumbles and roars, and lands as the recorded culmination of years of artistic growth. The two-part epic closer, “Linear System” and “Calculus of the Soul,” runs over 20 minutes and is worth every second. Listen here.

Kim’s path to this moment is as compelling as the music itself. Trained under gayageum legend Yi Ji-Young and later at the New England Conservatory’s Contemporary Improvisation department, she absorbed the methodologies of Ornette Coleman, Anthony Braxton, and Derek Bailey. She also discovered the power of her voice, mixing Korean shouts and pansori-influenced storytelling with the gayageum’s dynamics. Her 2017 album ‘GaPi’ with Chase Morrin earned a Korean Grammy nomination.

She chose her collaborators deliberately. Sorey, Maneri, and Fraser each bring an emotionally unmediated relationship to the moment, players free from thinking about their role and focused entirely on the relationship between sounds. The result is a quartet that attacks the music with exhilaration, whether through locked interplay or simultaneous storm.

Kim performs across New York City and internationally throughout March, including dates at Threes Brewing, Barbès, The Out Festival, and The Stone, plus two appearances at Knoxville’s Big Ears Festival and European dates with Kris Davis’ Massive Threads Trio. ‘Wellspring’ is available for preorder now.

Upcoming Shows:

March 11 @ Threes Brewing, Brooklyn, NY (with Vinnie Sperrazza and Brandon Seabrook)

March 14 @ Barbès, Brooklyn, NY (with Laura Cocks)

March 15 @ The Out Festival, Brooklyn, NY (with Cooper-Moore and William Parker)

March 19 @ National Concert Hall, Dublin, Ireland (with Kris Davis Massive Threads Trio)

March 20 @ Vortex Jazz Club, London, UK (with Kris Davis Massive Threads Trio)

March 22 @ AMR Jazz Festival, Geneva, Switzerland (with Kris Davis Massive Threads Trio)

March 25 @ The Stone, New York, NY (with Theresa Wong)

March 28 @ Big Ears Festival, Knoxville, TN

March 29 @ Big Ears Festival, Knoxville, TN

Thomas Rhett and Niall Horan Are Taking Their Decade-Long Friendship to the Stadium Stage

Eric Alper
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Thomas Rhett and Niall Horan Are Taking Their Decade-Long Friendship to the Stadium Stage

Thomas Rhett and Niall Horan are making it official. The multi-platinum superstars and longtime friends have announced two stadium shows together in summer 2026, promoted by Live Nation. They hit GEODIS Park in Nashville on July 9, followed by Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey, PA on July 18. Both nights mark the first-ever headline concerts at GEODIS Park for either artist, and the first time the pair have headlined stadium shows together. Rising stars Kashus Culpepper and Emily Ann Roberts join the bill for both dates.

The announcement follows the release of “Old Tricks,” a collaborative rework of Thomas Rhett’s fan-favorite track, now featuring Horan. The song appears on ‘ABOUT A WOMAN (Deluxe)’, Thomas Rhett’s expanded 25-track project that critics have called his best work yet. The album includes collaborations with Blake Shelton, Teddy Swims, Tucker Wetmore, and Lanie Gardner, plus current Top 5 single “Ain’t A Bad Life (ft. Jordan Davis).”

Thomas Rhett brings serious weight to this pairing. Over a decade in, he has accumulated 24 Number Ones, 16 billion streams, eight ACM Awards (including 2020 Entertainer of the Year), two CMA Awards, and five Grammy nominations. This summer also sees him joining Morgan Wallen on the Still The Problem Tour and appearing with Luke Combs at Wembley Stadium for three nights.

Horan matches that energy step for step. With over 90 million records sold worldwide, a Number One UK album in ‘Heartbreak Weather’, and a sold-out global arena run behind ‘The Show’, he is one of pop’s most commanding live performers. His new single “Dinner Party” drops March 20, ahead of his fourth studio album later this year.

Tour Dates:

July 9, 2026, GEODIS Park, Nashville, TN

July 18, 2026, Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey, PA

George Michael: The Faith Tour Film Brings a Lost 1988 Concert Back to the Big Screen

Eric Alper
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George Michael: The Faith Tour Film Brings a Lost 1988 Concert Back to the Big Screen

George Michael Entertainment, Mercury Studios, and Sony Music Entertainment have announced a global theatrical release of George Michael: The Faith Tour, a never-before-seen concert film shot during the European leg of his landmark 1988 Faith Tour. Filmed over two nights at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy using a 14-camera 35 mm shoot, this once-lost film has been meticulously restored and remastered. The result is a cinematic event decades in the making.

Directed by longtime collaborators Andy Morahan and David Austin, the film captures a 24-year-old George Michael at a turning point, in complete command of his voice and stagecraft. The restoration reveals the full scope of his original vision, and the performances land with the kind of raw, magnetic force that defined an era. This is George Michael as he was always meant to be seen and heard.

The film opens with an original short by Mary McCartney, offering cultural context for the tour’s significance. Voiceover drawn from a previously unheard interview, unseen photography by Herb Ritts, and behind-the-scenes footage from the Faith music video round out the experience. It is an intimate, richly layered introduction to one of pop’s most consequential moments.

Alongside the theatrical release, George Michael Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment will release ‘The Faith Tour’, an 18-track live album of previously unreleased recordings spanning his Wham! and solo catalogues. More details on the album are coming soon.

George Michael: The Faith Tour opens worldwide in theatres later this year. Release dates and territories will be announced soon.

6 Albums That Feel Like Personal Letters

Eric Alper
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6 Albums That Feel Like Personal Letters

Music fans know the feeling. An album starts, and within seconds it sounds less like a performance and more like someone pulling up a chair and telling you exactly what is on their mind. No distance. No disguise. Just stories, confessions, and a voice that feels like it is writing directly to you.

Here are six albums that play like personal letters set to music.

Adele – ’30’
Divorce, motherhood, and self reflection shape every moment of Adele’s ’30’. Songs like “My Little Love” include voice notes of conversations with her son, turning the album into a deeply personal document. Adele even described the record as something she made to explain her life to her child one day.

Beck – ‘Sea Change’
Written after the end of a long relationship, ‘Sea Change’ captures heartbreak in slow motion. Songs like “Lost Cause” and “Guess I’m Doing Fine” read like reflections written late at night. Beck once called the album the most personal music he had released up to that point.

Bruce Springsteen – ‘Nebraska’
Recorded as stark home demos on a four track recorder, ‘Nebraska’ feels like a stack of handwritten letters from the American roadside. “Atlantic City” and “Highway Patrolman” deliver intimate storytelling with just voice and guitar. Springsteen originally intended the recordings as demos, but their honesty made them the final album.

Joni Mitchell – ‘Blue’
Often called one of the most personal albums ever recorded, ‘Blue’ reads like an emotional diary. Songs like “River” and “A Case of You” capture love, heartbreak, and independence with almost uncomfortable honesty. Joni Mitchell later said she felt she had left herself completely exposed on the record.

Lauryn Hill – ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’
Lauryn Hill blended hip hop, soul, and reggae into songs that read like reflections on love, identity, and faith. “Ex-Factor” and “To Zion” feel like letters written in moments of clarity and pain. Hill described the album as documenting the lessons she was learning in life and relationships.

Sufjan Stevens – ‘Carrie & Lowell’
Written after the death of his mother Carrie, Sufjan Stevens’ ‘Carrie & Lowell’ is almost unbearably intimate. Songs like “Fourth of July” and “Should Have Known Better” process grief with quiet acoustic arrangements and fragile vocals. Stevens said the album was his way of understanding a complicated family history.

Barbie Ferreira and Chandler Levack Take on Montreal’s Indie Music Scene in “Mile End Kicks”

Eric Alper
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Barbie Ferreira and Chandler Levack Take on Montreal’s Indie Music Scene in “Mile End Kicks”

Chandler Levack is back, and the setup alone is enough to get excited about. Mile End Kicks, the follow-up to her acclaimed I Like Movies, stars Barbie Ferreira as Grace Pine, a 24-year-old music critic who relocates to Montreal in 2011 to write a book about Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill, falls in with an indie band called Bone Patrol, and ends up tangled in the lives of both its members. The film opens in theaters April 17 via Sumerian Pictures.

Levack wrote the screenplay from her own experience as a former music critic, and it shows in every layer of the premise. Grace’s world is one where taste is currency, proximity to a good band feels like destiny, and the line between professional ambition and romantic chaos disappears fast. It is funny, emotionally bruised, and culturally specific in the way only a film built from lived memory can be. IndieWire called it an indie Almost Famous, and that framing holds up.

Ferreira delivers what multiple critics have called a career-defining performance, and Levack is unambiguous about why. “She is extraordinary, and she really gave her whole heart and soul to the performance,” the director says. “Not only is she an incredible romantic heroine, she’s so authentic and raw.” Devon Bostick and Stanley Simons play the two musicians at the center of Grace’s professional and personal spiral, with Juliette Gariépy and Jay Baruchel rounding out a sharp ensemble.

The film world-premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, screened in competition at the Whistler Film Festival where Levack won Best Screenplay, landed on TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten list, and earned a strong sweep of Vancouver Film Critics Circle nominations including Best Canadian Film, Best Director, and Best Actress. Bostick took home Best Supporting Actor. It arrives at SXSW this month before its theatrical run begins in April.

Mile End Kicks is sitting at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes heading into wide release. For a film about a music critic learning what actually matters, that kind of reception feels exactly right.

Boston Lead Singer Tommy DeCarlo, Who Lived His Dream for Nearly Two Decades, Dead at 60

Eric Alper
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Boston Lead Singer Tommy DeCarlo, Who Lived His Dream for Nearly Two Decades, Dead at 60

Tommy DeCarlo, the lead singer of Boston for nearly two decades, passed away on March 9, 2026, at the age of 60, following a battle with brain cancer. His children, Talia and Tommy Jr., confirmed the news on Instagram. “After being diagnosed with brain cancer last September, he fought with incredible strength and courage right up until the very end,” the family wrote. “Rest in peace, Dad.”

DeCarlo’s path to Boston is one of rock’s most unlikely and genuinely moving stories. A lifelong fan of the band, he was working as a credit manager at Home Depot when original frontman Brad Delp died in 2007. DeCarlo recorded a tribute song and sent it to the band’s management. It was rejected initially, but Boston co-founder Tom Scholz heard it, invited DeCarlo to a Delp tribute concert, and the rest followed naturally. A fan became the voice of the band he had grown up loving.

Scholz paid tribute on Monday. “Everyone who has heard Tommy sing on stage, or on Boston albums, knows what a gifted artist he was,” he said, “but few know how hard he worked to fill that role of Boston’s lead vocalist, and to turn himself into a top-tier live performer, or more importantly, what a dedicated father he was to his children.”

DeCarlo had been open about his diagnosis and treatment, with his family launching a GoFundMe that surpassed its $50,000 goal from more than 450 donations. He underwent an emergency craniotomy after a brain bleed in September, during which doctors discovered two melanoma masses on his brain and a spot on his lungs. A second brain bleed hospitalized him from late November through late December. He returned home just after Christmas.

He had also formed a band, DeCarlo, with his son Tommy Jr. in 2012. A benefit concert in his honor, Voices of Change, remains scheduled for March 29. Tommy DeCarlo spent nearly 20 years giving everything he had to music he first fell in love with as a teenager. That is a life well and fully lived.

K-Pop Star Heeseung Parts Ways With ENHYPEN to Launch Solo Career

Eric Alper
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K-Pop Star Heeseung Parts Ways With ENHYPEN to Launch Solo Career

One of K-pop’s most watched acts is entering a new chapter. BELIFT LAB confirmed Tuesday that Heeseung is departing ENHYPEN to pursue a solo career, with the group continuing forward as a six-member act. The announcement was posted across official channels and on fan platform Weverse, where both the label and Heeseung addressed fans directly. Heeseung remains signed to BELIFT LAB and is currently preparing a solo album.

The decision came after an extended period of deliberation between the artist, his bandmates, and management. “Through in-depth discussions with each of the members about the future they envision and the direction of the team, it became clear that Heeseung has his own distinct musical vision,” BELIFT LAB stated. Heeseung, 24, debuted with ENHYPEN in November 2020 following his appearance on survival competition I-LAND, making this the first lineup change in the group’s history.

Heeseung spoke directly to fans in a message posted to Weverse. “Thanks to the members with whom I shared countless emotions, and to ENGENE, who always filled every empty space with their support, I was able to take step after step toward a dream that once felt out of reach,” he wrote. “I am working hard on an album so I can meet you all again soon.”

The departure lands at a significant moment. ENHYPEN recently released their seventh mini-album, The Sin: Vanish, in January, and took home Artist of the Year and Best Tour at the 2026 D Awards for their Walk the Line World Tour. The remaining members, Jake, Jay, Sunghoon, Sunoo, Jungwon, and Ni-ki, will continue promoting as ENHYPEN, though no specific release or tour plans have been announced yet.

ENHYPEN built one of the most impressive track records in recent K-pop history, topping the Billboard Artist 100 and Billboard 200, becoming the fastest K-pop act to reach one billion Spotify streams, and performing at Coachella before a sold-out world tour. Both paths forward carry serious momentum.

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That Eric Alper

Eric Alper is a 6-time nominee for Publicist of the Year during Canadian Music Week and has overseen the publicity campaigns for over 183 JUNO Award-nominated albums (and 16 in 2025), 45 Grammy-nominated albums, including 47 JUNO Award, 58 Canadian Folk Music Award, 126 Maple Blues Award-winning albums and is also truly honoured to work with some of the biggest and most important artists of our time.

Contact me: eric@thatericalper.com

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