Who doesn’t love The Swell Season? Ever since charming moviegoers with the romantic sleeper hit Once, Irish/Czech odd couple Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova have been trotting around the globe, bringing their heart-wrenching ballads to sold-out, adoring crowds. Their live performances have become renowned not just for the terrific music, but for Hansard’s endlessly engaging stream of anecdotes. And who could forget their much-deserved Oscar win for Best Original Song, which dutifully trampled the three obnoxious nominees from Disney’s Enchanted, and introduced the world to Hansard’s aw-shucks modesty and Irglova’s soft-spoken adorability?

Those who have played out their copies of the Once soundtrack now have cause to rejoice. The Swell Season—led by Hansard and Irglova and featuring members of Hansard’s other band The Frames—will be releasing Strict Joy on ANTI- Records on September 29th. Borrowing its name from a poem by James Stephens, the album features twelve new songs influenced by the band’s sudden and tumultuous success, as well as the birth and death of Hansard and Irglova’s offscreen romance.

The Swell Season will be touring in support of the new album, the dates for which will be announced soon. Also coming soon is a documentary that captures the band’s whirlwind post-Once tour, and which, if we’re lucky, will contain a performance of the hilarious children’s song “Banana Man”. We’ve got the track list for Strict Joy after the jump, as well as a video of Hansard and Irglova performing the inexorably awesome “Falling Slowly”. Continue reading →