Helen O’Shea to release latest single ‘Lost’ ahead of upcoming album ‘Songs In The Key of O’

Helen O’Shea to release latest single ‘Lost’ ahead of upcoming album ‘Songs In The Key of O’. Photo: Maria Wurtz

Helen O’Shea will release new single ‘Lost’ on January 9, honouring Dolores O’Riordan ahead of the 8th anniversary of her passing

Limerick-born, New-Jersey based roots artist Helen O’Shea will release new single ‘Lost’ on January 9th 2026, honouring Dolores O’Riordan of The Cranberries on her 8th anniversary of passing on January 15th.

The release follows latest single ‘Caged Birds’, honouring Sinéad O’Connor, which featured acclaimed artist and songwriter Liam O’Maonlaí of Hothouse Flowers. ‘Caged Birds’ earned extensive praise across Irish and international media, including addition to the RTÉ Radio 1 Recommends List for two consecutive weeks.

‘Lost’, releasing January 9th 2026, is the fifth song to be released in advance of the 12-track album ‘Songs In The Key of O’ (out May 1st 2026) which pays tribute to Sinead O’Connor and Dolores O’Riordan. The album is already receiving acclaim in the US, the UK and Ireland with Hot Press noting O’Shea’s work as, “a stunning tribute.”

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A star who burned brightly for a tragically short time, Dolores O’Riordan brought much beauty to the hometown she shared with O’Shea, through her singing and her songwriting, representing their home county of Limerick, Ireland with pride before her tragic passing in 2018.

On the origin of O’Riordan’s deep influence on her, O’Shea recalls an impactful experience during her medical school days, when her brother, a student at what was then NIHE (now University Of Limerick), came home with a mixtape that included The Cranberries‘ renowned single, ‘Linger’.

The stunning voice of Dolores left a lasting impact on O’Shea – another Limerick girl. Dolores was living the singing dream that O’Shea longed for, and with a voice unlike any other. When O’Shea was blessed to begin her singing journey much later in life, she carried with her the influences of all the girl singers she loved, but most of all, her two countrywomen, Sinéad O’Connor and Dolores O’Riordan, with whom culturally she shares so much more with than just a love of song.

O’Shea had researched Dolores O’Riordan’s vast catalog, selecting three songs that most resonated with her for her upcoming album, ‘Song in the Key of O’ (Out May 1st 2026) . The third of these three songs, ‘Lost’, is taken from The Cranberries’ 1990 album ‘In The End’.

One of O’Shea’s personal favorites, the poignancy and depth of feeling conveyed by the band evokes the true reality of being completely ‘lost’, without any sign of hope. O’Shea’s producer, GRAMMY award winner Marc Swersky, heard the song more as a troubled conversation and less as a melodic song, so in the studio he gently pushed O’Shea out of her comfort zone to achieve that heartfelt conversation with herself.

Swersky explains that he “felt the spirit of Leonard Cohen make his way into this song in the studio, as the musicians fell into line with ease”, creating a message of profound loss, as expressed by O’Riordan in what is one of her final recordings with The Cranberries.

Album ‘Songs in the Key of O’ (for release on May 1st 2026) features a talented list of collaborators, including Nathan Bishop, Nicole Scorsone, Brielle Brown, Michelle Moore (Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band – E Street Choir), Fiona Tyndall, Lauren O’Shea, Liam O’Maonlaí, James Maddock, The Carlile Family Band and more, with the LP engineered by Jack Daley (Spin Doctors), mixed by Seth Von Paulus (Linda Perry) and mastered by Leon Zervos.

Announcing the album Songs In The Key of O in July with a special Jersey-girls cover of Sinéad O’Connor’s ‘Dense  Water Deep Down’, O’Shea earned strong international support from Hot Press, Front View Magazine, Vents Magazine and more, launching the highly collaborative LP with flair. Succeeding this was August single ‘Rock and Roll Angel (feat. Barry Murphy)’, a delicate original track penned with two-time GRAMMY award winning producer Marc Swersky, in honour of O’Riordan, which was soon followed by ‘Caged Birds’, honouring Sinéad O’Connor on her 59th Birthday.