Randy Newman has announced an international An Evening with Randy Newman tour for 2020, beginning with Australia and New Zealand in January and February—his first tour of Australia since 2011, and his first ever tour of New Zealand. Further dates, in Europe in spring 2020, will be announced shortly.

The first recording of Donnacha Dennehy's The Hunger—performed by Alarm Will Sound led by Alan Pierson, soprano Katherine Manley, and sean nós singer Iarla Ó Lionáird—is out this Friday. Alarm Will Sound has shared a short film in which the composer and performers tell the story behind the piece. "It's not just really about the Irish Famine. It's about any kind of unfolding catastrophe that's complicated by political ideas of 'the other,'" says Dennehy. "This happens throughout the world still to this day. We don't have to look very hard for parallels, I'm afraid." You can watch the short film here.

David Byrne was in Boston last week ahead of the pre-Broadway run of his American Utopia at Boston's Emerson Colonial Theatre in September. He spoke with Robin Young, co-host of NPR's Here & Now, about the project in an event at WBUR's new CitySpace last Thursday. You can watch the conversation here. David Byrne’s American Utopia plays at Broadway's Hudson Theatre from October 4 through January 19.

Rachael & Vilray have shared a quick behind-the-scenes look at the making of their self-titled debut album, due October 4. It shows the duo in the studio in Brooklyn with pianists Jon Batiste and Akie Bermiss, drummer Jason Burger, and bassist Tony Scherr, all set to songs from the forthcoming album. "People have music that makes them feel something," Batiste says in the video. "That's the music you can play anywhere and everywhere, because it comes from the heart. It brings people a sense of humanity." Watch it here.

Natalie Merchant was on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. She performed 10,000 Maniacs' "These Are Days," joined by The Roots, and gave an intimate online-exclusive performance of her song "Motherland." You can watch both here. Merchant also spoke with John Wilson for the podcast These Three about three songs: one she wrote, one she wishes she'd written, and one she's working on now. Her two-week, sold-out US tour concludes in Hudson, NY, tonight.