Sinead O’Connor has shared her first release since 2016 in the form of a cover of ‘Trouble Of The World’.

The musician’s last piece of music came four years ago as part of the compilation ‘Tribute To Blind Willie Johnson’.

Now, O’Connor has put out her take on a song by New Orleans-born gospel singer Mahalia Jackson. All profits from the track’s sales will be donated to Black Lives Matter charities. You can buy it here. 

In a statement, the star said the song wasn’t “about death or dying” to her. “More akin, a message of certainty that the human race is on a journey toward making this world paradise and that we will get there,” she explained.

The accompanying video – which was directed by Don Letts – features footage from Black Lives Matter protests, including O’Connor herself protesting in a BLM jumper and holding a sign with Jackson’s picture on.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, she also confirmed that her new album ‘No Veteran Dies Alone’ will be released in 2022. The cover of ‘Trouble Of The World’ was originally intended for the record.

“I’m writing more about personal matters, being a mother,” she told the publication. “The record is like letters to my children. The songs are very subconscious. I don’t know what the tone of the whole record will be, but that’s what it is so far.”

Meanwhile, O’Connor recently shared her plans to become a healthcare assistant. “I’ve been accepted onto the course to start in Bray Institute of Further Education in September,” she said in a recent appearance on Irish TV show The Late Late Show. “So it’s the FETAC Level 5 healthcare support course.”

She added that she specifically wanted to work in “hospice work” and “palliative care”. “The area I would most like to work in would be companioning people who for one reason or another don’t have family ’round or are on their own,” she said.