Can Lightning Strike Twice For The Swell Season?

Oscar-winning duo the Swell Season, made up of Frames frontman Glen Hansard and classically trained Czech pianist Marketa Irglova, will release Strictly Joy, the follow up to their surprise hit soundtrack for “Once,” September 29 on Anti- Records. The disc will feature twelve new songs co-produced by Hansard and Peter Katis, producer for the National and Interpol.

Recorded last year at Katis’ studio in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Strictly Joy takes its title from a work by Irish poet James Stephens. It features Frames members Colm Mac Iomaire (violin), Joe Doyle (bass), Rob Bochnik (guitar), Graham Hopkins (percussion) plus guitarist Javier Mas (Leonard Cohen), pianist Thomas Bartlett (Doveman), percussionist Chad Taylor (Chicago Underground Duo), and horn players Steven Bernstein and Clark Gayton from Levon Helm’s band.

The record is said to “document a time of great change,” including the band’s success during the 2008 awards season with an Oscar win for Best Original Song for “Falling Slowly,” and a sold-out world tour that was captured for an upcoming documentary.

Hansard and Irglova will hit the road this fall to promote Strictly Joy on an extensive US tour, with dates being announced soon.

Strictly Joy Track Listing

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

– Jamie Younger