Years active 2005–2011 Website www.theswellseason.com Genres Indie folk, Folk rock | Associated acts The Frames Record label Anti- | |
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Also known as Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová Labels Plateau, ANTI-, Spunk, Sony Origin Dublin, Republic of Ireland (2005) Albums Strict Joy, The Swell Season, Raleigh, NC @ Meymandi Concert Hall Members Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová Similar The Frames, Lisa Hannigan, Charlie Winston, John Carney, The Tallest Man on Earth Profiles | ||
The Swell Season is a folk rock duo formed by Irish musician Glen Hansard and Czech singer and pianist Markéta Irglová. "The Swell Season" name is derived from Hansard's favourite novel by Josef Škvorecký from 1975 bearing the same title. Their debut album, released in 2006, carried the same name.
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Since their rise to prominence after starring in the 2007 film Once, they increasingly referred to themselves as "The Swell Season" in promotion of their performances until it became the formal name of their collaboration in 2008. (They still used their separate names when they contributed their cover of Bob Dylan's "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" to the 2007 soundtrack of I'm Not There.)
From 2007 through 2010, a documentary film was made about Irglova and Hansard called The Swell Season. The documentary premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2011 to positive reviews.
History
The self-titled first album came about after Hansard and Irglová were approached by the Czech film director Jan Hřebejk while touring in the Czech Republic, and were asked by him to record songs for his upcoming film Beauty in Trouble. It was the first album that Hansard, the singer for The Frames, had released independent of his band.
The tracks from the debut album "Falling Slowly" and "When Your Mind's Made Up" also appeared on The Frames' album The Cost, and "Falling Slowly", "When Your Mind's Made Up", "Lies" and "Leave" from the album also were on the Once soundtrack.
A follow up album, Strict Joy, was released on October 27, 2009 in the United States. Three singles from the album have been released: "In These Arms," "Low Rising," and "Feeling the Pull."
Spin Magazine's review of Strict Joy gave the album 4 out of 5 stars. "If Glen Hansard's and Markéta Irglová's roles in the hit Irish indie film Once unintentionally wove the tale of their real-life falling in love, their second album as the Swell Season weaves the story of their falling out of it." SPIN.com
In August 2010, The Swell Season covered Neutral Milk Hotel's "Two-Headed Boy" for The A.V. Club.
At an August 19, 2010 concert at the Mountain Winery, a concert attendee leapt to his death from the roof of the venue onto the stage. The death was deemed a suicide. The band provided and paid for group counseling sessions for concert attendees who witnessed the event.
In a December 2011 interview in the Huffington Post with Irglová, she revealed that the Swell Season will probably release a third album when Hansard finishes with other commitments.
Hansard and Irglová parodied their roles from Once in The Simpsons episode, In the Name of the Grandfather.
The pair still occasionally perform together, though not under The Swell Season title.
Albums
Singles
Songs
Low RisingStrict Joy · 2009
In These ArmsStrict Joy · 2009
Feeling The PullStrict Joy · 2009