ALBUM IN THE LAST HOUR OF LIGHT
OUT NOW
TOUR CONTINUES THIS MONTH, IN CONCERT AND CONVERSATION
UPCOMING DATES IN LOS ANGELES, NEW YORK, NASHVILLE, CHICAGO AND MORE
Photo by Elisha Christian
“I encountered “Stray Dogs,” his recent single, featuring Iron & Wine on vocals. It’s lovely and quiet and calming; I’ve listened to it so many times it’s become part of me."
“[Hrishikesh’s] hushed, acoustic vignettes have truly connected with their audience...a beautiful acoustic hymnal, fueled by patience and grace.”
Best New Music - “Stray Dogs” (feat. Iron & Wine)
April 24, 2026—Hrishikesh Hirway’s anticipated new album, In the Last Hour of Light, is out now via Keeled Scales— listen/share here. The album is his first full-length release under his own name, marking his return to making records after more than a decade focused on audio storytelling through his acclaimed podcast Song Exploder.
In the Last Hour of Light is a deeply personal memoir about letting go; of people, of fading memories, of the desire to stop time. Written in the wake of Hirway’s mother’s death and amidst his father’s hospitalization, the album’s eleven tracks reflect on loss, long shared and fleeting love, and the everyday moments that shape us. Arrangements balance between quiet intimacy and spacious, Americana-tinted soundscapes meant to embrace the imperfection and unexpected qualities of being alive.
The theme of letting go extended to Hirway’s own historically tight sense of creative control, and he turned to Grammy-nominated producer Phil Weinrobe (Big Thief, Adrianne Lenker), who recorded the album live at his Brooklyn studio, Sugar Mountain. Weinrobe arranged all the players close enough so they could all hear Hirway’s vocals as they recorded, playing without headphones or click track.
“When Phil Weinrobe told me that we were going to record this album live, including the vocals with everyone in the same room, without overdubs or the chance go to back and edit or re-do any of the music, I was terrified. But then, I realized it was probably the most appropriate way to record a song like this. The whole album is about confronting and accepting how little control I have over so many fundamental aspects of my life. You can only try your best. And I feel like that really came through in the recording.”
His tour in support of the album, A Concert and Conversation with Hrishikesh Hirway and Special Guests, commenced on Wednesday in Austin with special guest Austin Kleon. Previously announced guests include Allison Russell in Nashville, Adam Scott in New York, Jason Mantzoukas in Los Angeles, Samin Nosrat in San Francisco, Ken Jennings in Seattle, Josh Malina in Chicago, and Min Jin Lee in Boston. The tour will consist of a moderated talk with these noted guests about the album and Hirway’s life and creative process—in the spirit of his work on Song Exploder—followed by a live performance. See below for full tour routing and visit hrishikesh.co for more information.
On the album’s second track Hirway shares, “[Dark Circles] is a song about growing up a brown kid in a white suburb. It took me a long time after leaving that world to be able to see just how alienating and isolating parts of that experience were. Ever since I can remember, I’ve been trying to figure out how to fit in—so the ways I want to stand out are what people could notice instead.
Bruce Springsteen was, to me, the epitome of American-ness in the 80s, so there are references to his songs in each of the verses. I wrote this song with Fenne Lily, whose voice and music I love. We recorded it live, the two of us singing together along while Mike Haldeman played guitar. He took the ¾ time signature and transformed with his unique playing.[Producer] Phil Weinrobe, Mike, and I had fun finding techniques for Mike to play clarinet on this song in ways that would sound somewhere between musical notes, human breath, and noise—a mix that reflected the feeling of the story I was trying to tell in the song.”
After years as the sole writer, producer and performer behind The One AM Radio, Hirway approached this entire record with collaboration in mind. Collaboration was his way out of the years-long writer’s block that had led him to create the Song Exploder podcast. He co-wrote with Kevin Morby, Vagabon, and others, including Fenne Lily, Ken Pomeroy, and Uwade, who are also featured guest vocalists on the album. The album features a world-class band including Josh Crumbly on bass, Oliver Hill on piano, Sean Mullins on drums, Ken Pomeroy on acoustic guitar, El Kempner (of Palehound) on electric guitar, Billy Crockett on resonator guitar, and Cole Kamen-Green on trumpet and EVI, along with Melina Duterte (of Jay Som), Dustin O'Halloran, Mike Haldeman, Shahzad Ismaily, Jon Natchez (of The War on Drugs), Daniel Hart, Zosha Warpeha and more.
That band appears throughout the album, along with other performers that include Melina Duterte (of Jay Som), Dustin O’Halloran, Mike Haldeman, Shahzad Ismaily, Jon Natchez (of The War on Drugs), Daniel Hart, and Zosha Warpeha.
It’s a glimpse into the team of world-class musicians and writers he assembled for the project, which also includes contributions from Jenny Owen Youngs, TOMI, John Mark Nelson, and more.
ABOUT HRISHIKESH HIRWAY
Hrishikesh Hirway has been producing music for over two decades; his EP Rooms I Used to Call My Own was released in March 2022, and he composed the original score for the 2025 thriller Companion. His music career first began in the early 2000s with his solo project The One AM Radio, and later with MOORS, a collaboration with Oscar-nominated actor and rapper Lakeith Stanfield. He’s the host, creator, and executive producer of Song Exploder, an award-winning podcast and a Netflix original television series, where musicians tell the story of the creative process behind one of their songs. Hirway will receive iHeartMedia’s 2026 Icon Innovator Award at this year’s SXSW for his “visionary approach to storytelling” through the podcast.
Hirway additionally produced and co-hosted the award-winning podcasts Home Cooking, with chef and author Samin Nosrat; and The West Wing Weekly, with actor Joshua Malina.
Album art
IN THE LAST HOUR OF LIGHT
TRACKLIST
1. Stray Dogs (feat. Iron & Wine)
2. Dark Circles (feat. Fenne Lily)
3. Rollercoaster
4. Things Change, Even Now
5. The Ocean (feat. Uwade)
6. When I Look At You
7. Big Sky (feat. Ken Pomeroy)
8. Charlie, Short for Charlotte
9. Swimming Pool
10. Home Movies
11. Your Voice (feat. Ken Pomeroy)
A CONCERT AND CONVERSATION
WITH HRISHIKESH HIRWAY AND SPECIAL GUESTS
April 22—3TEN—Austin, TX | with Austin Kleon
May 14—Pacific Electric—Los Angeles, CA (Presented by KCRW) | with Jason Mantzoukas
May 16—Swedish American Hall—San Francisco, CA | with Samin Nosrat
May 27—Analog at Hutton Hotel—Nashville, TN | with Allison Russell
May 30—Lincoln Hall—Chicago, IL | with Josh Malina
June 7—Triple Door—Seattle, WA | with Ken Jennings & John Roderick
June 11—Sinclair—Boston, MA | with Min Jin Lee
June 13—LPR—New York, NY | with Adam Scott
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