The Swell Season
Strict Joy
Play Strict Joy
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AMG Review of Strict Joy
Andrew Leahey
All Music GuideWhen Once hit theaters in 2007, Glen Hansard had already pursued international acclaim for more than 15 years with the Frames. Although popular in Ireland, the singer's music wasn't nearly as omnipresent in other countries until the movie's release, which catapulted former Frames tunes like "Falling Slowly" into the spotlight. The Once soundtrack was also a big hit, turning Hansard's side project with simpatico songwriter Markéta Irglová into a full-fledged, award-winning, globetrotting band. While playing international venues and attending industry award shows, the two attracted additional attention for their real-life relationship, which effectively replaced Once's semi-tearful conclusion with a storybook ending. Released two years after the film's release, however, Strict Joy finds Hansard and Irglová going their separate ways, choosing to end their relationship while remaining in the same band.
Hansard has used heartbreak for fuel in the past, and he keeps the blaze going throughout these 12 tracks. If the Once soundtrack was a bit spotty -- its track list culled from a haphazard array of old Frames songs, Van Morrison covers, collaborative material, and musicians' own tunes -- then Strict Joy shows what the Swell Season can do with a singular theme and a solid backing band, both of which contribute to the album's cohesion. Van Morrison's influence is still apparent, particularly in the '70s-styled soul of "Low Rising," but the singer/songwriter ambience that permeated Once's music doesn't carry as much weight here. Instead, Strict Joy devotes more concern to exploring the lush possibilities of Swell Season's sound, which now includes tasteful doses of strings, electric guitar, and overdubbed harmonies. The results are quite often gorgeous, with songs like "The Rain" and "Wild Horses" building up to expansive, cathartic climaxes over the course of several minutes. Also striking are the performances by Markéta Irglová, who turns her fragile voice -- an instrument that always seemed detrimentally self-conscious on previous albums -- into something alluring on "Fantasy Man" and "I Have Loved You Wrong." It's testament to the band's vision that they remain focused despite such improvements; no amount of cinematic orchestration can change the fact that these songs are, after all, inward-looking tunes about heartbreak and personal struggle, and their lyrics resonate regardless of their wrapping paper. As a result, Strict Joy is a joy from start to finish, and few bands manage to mix intimacy and sweeping songcraft with such finesse.
The Swell Season: Strict Joy
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Track:Feeling The Pull
Post-Once, post-Oscar, post international merry-go-round, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova are back doing what they (particularly the Frames frontman) do best, penning effortlessly hummable tunes, even if some of them, like the wonderfully breezy ‘Feeling The Pull’ have been around for some time.Opener ‘Low Rising’ is a mid-paced country-tinged grower that wouldn’t seem out…
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Grab new track from The Swell Season
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Track:These Arms
Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard will release Strict Joy in late October and the duo have debuted a track entitled In These Arms through Spinner.com. Hansard says of the LP followup: "For me, it's just an audio diary. It's just another installment of the life we lead." Pop over to Spinner to listen and download the [...]
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The Swell Season and Ben Gibbard / Jay Farrar New Albums Streaming Now
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MUSIC NEWS - We're heading over to NPR Music to listen to the advance release streams of two upcoming albums: The Swell Season’s Strict Joy and One Fast Move Or I’m Gone: Kerouac’s Big Sur by Ben Gibbard and Jay Farrar. Both are available for free, on-demand listening at npr.org/music as part of the site's "Exclusive First Listen" series. The Swell Season are Glen Hansard and Marketa Ir
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MOG it up!
New: The Swell Season – “Low Rising”
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Track:Low Rising
Isn’t that picture adorable?They have a new song!That’s right, guys! It’s called “Low Rising,” and it’s from the band’s forthcoming album Strict Joy, due out October 27! The song’s pretty good, too! It’s kind of too slicked over for my tastes, but Glen Hansard’s voice is still awesome! Stream the song here! Ahh! Ahh! *Explodes*The [...]
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New Swell Season Album Coming In September, US Tour
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The new Peter Katis produced album by The Swell Season entitled “Strict Joy,” will hit store shelves on September 29, 2009 on ANTI- Records. According to the band’s website, a fall US tour will be announced shortly.Strict Joy track listing and European tour dates after the jump.Strict Joy Track Listing1. Low Rising2. Feeling the Pull3. [...]
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The Swell Season
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Track:Low Rising
"Low Rising"from the album Strict Joy2009iTunesAs lead singer of The Frames, Glen Hansard has spent more than 15 years establishing himself as the Bard of big-hearted but emotionally delayed men. In the process, he and his band have become huge stars in their...
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Bogart-Internet-Tubes Blues
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Track:Low Rising
My free internet situation dried up over the weekend (yes, I was bogarting internet tubes) so I'll be posting a bit more erratically over the next week or so in coffee shops until I remedy that. In any case, there have been several excellent releases over the past week, so in case you haven't had time to look around, here's what's been going on. That awesomelly genuine and charismatic, Van Morr...
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The Swell Season Joyously Returns
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Track:The Rain
It has been a whirlwind couple of years for Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard of The Swell Season. After staring in the little indie movie that could Once, The Swell Season has been touring constantly and even went on to win an Oscar for its song "Falling Slowly." Their new album Strict Joy came out on Oct. 27 and I'm in love. I had the great pleasure of seeing them in Philadelphia and to be...
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The Swell Season – Strict Joy
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Oscar winning duo Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova attempt to escape the shadows of Once and their own break-up through soulful AOR and The National's producer.
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The Swell Season on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert Series
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I can not wait for October 27th to arrive, the date when Glen and Marketa’s new album Strict Joy is finally released. The Once soundtrack made my top album of the year, and the movie remains one of my all time favorites. In anticipation for their upcoming album, I did a little digging for new [...]
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Pullin’ ‘Tubes: Just Swell
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Track:Low Rising
With the unexpected success of musical-drama Once, Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová - the stars of the film, found themselves in a unique position to head out on the road to perform the songs from the movie. Hansard, the longtime frontman of the Irish folk-rock band The Frames, and Irglová, who was amazingly just 17 at the time the film was made, have toured relentlessly over the last couple of
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The Swell Season Live at Vicar Street
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Singer-songwriter duo The Swell Season aka Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, they may have won some Hollywood award last year, have just released their second album ‘Strict Joy’ on The Frames’ record label Plateau (thanks Niamh). The Frames frontman and Czech ingénue have also released a new single Low Rising. “[The album] was co-produced by…
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The Swell Season: "Strict Joy" (album review)
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There has been a big spotlight shone on The Swell Season since their somewhat surprising Oscar win. The duo are stepping into the light once again with their sophomore album Strict Joy (out October 27th).The group, comprised of The Frames' singer Glen Hansard and the classically trained Czech Marketa Irglova, are known for their thoughtfully crafted, mature pop songs. That's exactly what we
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 "Strict Joy")
