"Dense Water Deeper Down" is the first single release from Helen O'Shea's forthcoming album Songs In The Key Of O, due for release on March 6, 2026. Produced by Marc Swersky, the song features Andrew Carillo (Joan Osbourne), Rob Clores (The Black Crowes), Aaron Comess (Spin Doctors), Brielle Brown, Sharon Lasher, Fiona Tyndall, and Jo Wymer.
With the heart of a healer and the grace of grit, Ireland-born, New Jersey-based artist Helen O'Shea is trailblazing a path of hope and possibility, sharing her unguarded story so that others may step fully into their power.
Helen’s journey from medicine, to motherhood and to music embodies resilience, reinvention, and the power of learning to heal. Blending Americana and Celtic influences into her signature sound, which she calls AmeriCeltiCana, her music and message resonate deeply with women and mothers rediscovering themselves later in life.
Helen O'Shea, photo by Maria Wurtz
Through Helen’s metamorphosis, she holds fiercely to her personal mantra, Turning Tides Make Sturdy Souls, reflecting her belief that life’s challenges—both joyful and painful—are what shape us. Embracing transformation takes courage, and through her music, Helen extends a hand, reminding us that we don’t have to take the first step alone.
Before entering the music world, Helen dedicated years to a distinguished medical career as an obstetrician/gynecologist. She attended medical school at the University College Galway (UCG) Ireland, where she met her husband, Paul O’Shea, PhD. She then spent a number of years as an Assistant Professor in Medical Research and Medical School Teaching at the prestigious McGill University in Montreal, Canada, where she became a leader in perinatal research and medical education. She created Healing in Medicine, a groundbreaking course that taught medical students, residents, and physicians how to handle the complexities of caring for vulnerable patients and their families.
Even as a doctor, Helen’s deepest calling was to be a healer—not just of the body, but of the human spirit. She has been a guiding light for many while quietly navigating her own struggles behind the scenes.
Her return to the USA in 2011, where she had lived briefly in the 90s, was rough on her children and coincided with their request that she stop working in medicine and stay home with them after school—an idea which surprised Helen, but which she and her husband fully supported. She explains: “Two days into my new life, without my lifelong identity as Dr. Helen McNamara, I began to settle into life as housewife Helen O'Shea, with great difficulty. It was then that my husband said "You've always wanted to sing - this is your chance.”
Helen rediscovered her life-long passion for music, quickly becoming a dynamic force in the independent music scene, collaborating with two-time Grammy winner Marc Swersky (Joe Cocker, Natalie Cole), winning Best Americana Song for “Sturdy Soul” at the Global Music Awards, and earning nominations for the 2024 Josie Awards and the International Singer-Songwriter Award for Best Duo with Alexander Simone for their collaboration on “Holy Mother”.
Coinciding with the anniversary of Sineád O’Connor’s passing (July 26th), the single was selected after Helen undertook extensive research into the late singer’s catalogue for this special album project, sourcing three songs that resonated with her most deeply.
Sinéad O'Connor's debut on Ireland’s Late Late Show had a profound impact on Helen during her time in medical school, when the young singer exploded on the screen with a crew cut and a tank top scream singing "Mandinka". Helen, as well as many Irish girls, were transfixed by this new vision of womanhood - gentleness and anger, ferocity and determination - with a beautiful voice. Sinéad O'Connor encouraged a new generation of Irish youth to be true to themselves like never before.
Taken from O’Connor’s 2014 album I’m Not Bossy, I’m The Boss, "Dense Water Deeper Down" inspired Helen's producer, Marc Swersky, to gather the best local singers - Brielle Brown, Sharon Lasher, Fiona Tyndall and Jo Wymer - into the studio to create the special Jersey Girls tribute to Sinéad ; lightness, frivolity and deep respect shining throughout.
Produced by two-time Grammy Winner Marc Swersky (Joe Cocker, NoShows, Little Stranger), the song and full album was engineered by Jack Daley (Spin Doctors) at Dug Deep Production in Asbury Park, NJ, mixed by Seth Von Paulus (Linda Perry) and mastered by Leon Zervos. The album features throughout Aaron Comes (Spin Doctors), Rob Clores (The Black Crowes, Jesse Malin), Andrew Carillo (Joan Osbourne, James Maddock) and Marc Swersky (Joe Cocker, NoShows, Little Stranger) as well as strings on selected tracks from Nathan Bishop and Nicole Scorsone and harmonica from Jay Carlile (The Carlile Family Band, Wynonna Judd Band & Brother Of Brandi Carlile).
Featured vocalists on the album include Liam Ó Maonlaí (Hot House Flowers), Barry Murphy (Hermitage Green), James Maddock (Wood), Brad Butcher, Michelle Moore (Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - E Street Choir), Caroline Carlile (The Carlile Family Band and niece Of Brandi Carlile), Brielle Brown, Sharon Lasher, Fiona Tyndall and Jo Wymer.
