Artist of the Day: The Swell Season

What do you get when you combine a soulfool Irish crooner with a Czech musician who has one of the most with a delicate haunting voices of recent history? The Swell Season. The duo of Glen Hansard — frontman of the Irish band The Frames — and Markéta Irglová met and formed while filming the hugely popular 2007 indie film "Once."



The film's soundtrack features duets and solo performances from both of its stars, and the song "Falling Slowly" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2008. The movie itself became or sort of self-fufilling prophecy for Hansard and Irglová.  In it they both play struggling musicians living in Dublin and trying to get by; the film then evolves into a sort of sad love story.  Hansard and Irglová have since been linked romantically in real life.

The Swell Season's newest disc, Strict Joy, was released last week. Although they collaborated on the "Once" soundtrack and The Swell Season CD, this is the first album to be released under The Swell Season moniker.

Strict Joy features 12 tracks of emotionally driven, delicate tunes. See the track listing here:

1. Low Rising
2. Feeling the Pull
3. In These Arms
4. The Rain
5. Fantasy Man
6. Paper Cup
7. High Horses
8. The Verb
9. I Have Loved You Wrong
10. Love That Conquers
11. Two Tongues
12. Back Broke


Check out The Swell Season's performing a song from Strict Joy on "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien:" 



Who's Who: Glen Hansard (guitar, vocals), Markéta Irglová (piano, vocals)
Label: ANTI-
Latest Release: Strict Joy (2009)
On the Web: www.theswellseason.com

-Kristen Callihan
currently listening to "Falling Slowly" by Glen Hansard


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