Audioholic Media

You could almost call Strict Joy, the new LP from the Swell Season, an album out of time, dwelling in steep ’70s soul while sounding thoroughly modern in production and songcraft. It’s as if Al Green or Van Morrison were recording their classics just down the road today — which really is a tribute to the road Glen Hansard has been traveling, where he’s now arrived, and who has arrived there with him.

Strict Joy
Release Date: October 27, via ANTI-

01. Low Rising
02. Feeling the Pull
03. In These Arms
04. The Rain
05. Fantasy Man
06. Paper Cup
07. High Horses
08. The Verb
09. I Have Loved You Wrong
10. Love That Conquers
11. Two Tongues
12. Back Broke

The Frames’ frontman has been making top-shelf tunes for the better part of two+ decades and has made due with many various groupings of musicians, but with The Swell Season, he finally has something that has eluded him for most of those two decades: worldwide attention (thanks to Once, the 2007 film which garnered an Oscar for Best Song, and cemented his working relationship with Czech singer/pianist Marketa Irglova), and the players to really put on a good show with that international spotlight on. Indeed it is Irglova who seems to be the most striking addition to Hansard’s sound, her soft, winsome voice and piano providing sure-handed counterpoint to his heart-worn lead vocal and seasoned guitar playing. She also turns in two powerfully heart-rending lead vocal performances in “Fantasy Man” and “I Have Loved You Wrong” (which she composed as well), and her vocal harmonies complement his in just the right measure at every turn.

Irglova’s piano is but one piece of a masterfully-applied miniature orchestra of support players on this album, with most of Hansard’s current Frames band mates lending in on rhythm, violin, and guitar duties, plus some additional guitar and horns (from Leonard Cohen’s and Levon Helm’s bands, respectively). This ensemble is skillfully utilized, filling in the small spaces of each track with finesse, just the right application of sound when needed. From the subtle string and horn swells in lead-off track “Low Rising,” to the stunningly-arranged vocal interplay in the interludes of first single “In These Arms,” to the unique and refreshingly divergent song structures throughout, the compositional prowess is leaps and bounds beyond the competition on this album, as are the production skills, which are shared between Hansard and indie go-to boardman Peter Katis. You might benefit greatly to consume this LP by headphones, as all these layers are expertly mixed, with not much overlap and never any clutter. The string layers alone are a special treat, even when just a single, sustained violin note, and violinist Colm MacIomare fills in the stratosphere with the right tone every time.

Atop the music, Glen Hansard has authored yet another worthy body of songs dealing with heartbreak, love and loss. While any Frames fans know this is not a new subject for him, the recently-ended romance with his Once co-star Irglova provides fresh framework for these compositions, and they carry more ache throughout the album because of it. Right out the gate, Hansard is proclaiming “I wanna pull back the veils and find out what I’ve done wrong” in opener “Low Rising,” a sentiment of regretful hindsight which rises up repeatedly in tracks to come, from the wishful detachment of “Paper Cup” to the resigned, wry-smiled despair of quick-footed album stunner “The Verb,” which finds Hansard repeating stanzas like “All joy escapes in the dark, and I can’t make this make sense” and “I’m stuck here killing myself, you’re out there drinking somewhere” while Irglova’s counterpoint vocals cascade all around like raindrops bouncing off the cobblestone street. Throughout all this emotional turmoil, however, the mood itself never becomes despairing, which is the true triumph of this set of songs — to examine heartache and sadness and come out better for it, to turn regretful sentiment into life-affirming conviction.

All in all this band has made an album of truly life-affirming sentiment, even if the storybook romance of its core duo has written its final chapter. When the two sing in unison “It’s not just this, it’s everything” on “Two Tongues,” they’re singing for an entire generation of lovers who have passed the point of reconciliation; likewise, when they join to intone “Maybe I was born to hold you in these arms,” they’re capturing the deep-seated hope in all of us to find purpose in comforting our other half, wandering around somewhere waiting for us to discover them. The gorgeous musical accompaniment shines and shimmers in all the right places to buoy these sentiments with sonic display, and even in the overcast moments it’s difficult to not be enchanted by Glen Hansard’s sheer emotive conviction. Closing out “Paper Cup,” singing “Maybe time will provide, give you strength to decide, you know it’s not too late,” one can’t help but believe this is an artist holding firmly onto hope even through the storm, and with a foil like Marketa Irglova and an ensemble like the one The Swell Season currently boasts, he’s got good reason to keep his hopes high.

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For more on The Swell Season, visit theswellseason.com.