The Swell Season (Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová from the film Once — yes, people still don’t know this) were on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien last week for those that happened to miss it; and while I still haven’t listened to much of the new album yet, I was curious as to what everyone’s opinion is on it who have heard it.  I ask this because as I was sitting on the couch watching the performanc with my sister, she mentioned midway through “Low Rising” that she didn’t like the song at all.  I actually enjoyed the song, but I wonder how different an experience it is to just hear the new material on its own merit, without the added emotional connection/bond that the film had with its own soundtrack .

Watching Once even recently, the film still delivers on an emotional level.  I still listen to the soundtrack quite frequently, and I have a feeling that once I actually listen to the new record that I won’t have any qualms about it.  Still, I feel like it’s an interesting topic, regardless.  What are your thoughts on it?  Has enough time gone by that the band is unable to coast on the film’s success?

The duo is also currently in the midst of a North American tour, including a date right here in Salt Lake City on November 28th.  You can check the full list of dates here.

MP3: The Swell Season :: “Low Rising”

After watching Once several times over the holidays, I had come to realize how fortunate enough that we live in a time that we’re able to experience such a small and special film like this. A film that was created with a shoestring budget of a mere $160,000, but is just bursting at the seams with fantastic performances, amazing music, and a simple romantic story that tugs at your heart in every way possible. It’s easily the best story of love since Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

When I first previewed the film, way back in May, I quickly decided to purchase the soundtrack; considering that I knew that I would more than likely never get to see it until it’s eventual release on dvd. Ideally, it wasn’t how I wanted to delve into Once, but I wanted to experience it in any way possible. Watching the film now, the soundtrack works hand-in-hand and is a much better experience in context with the film’s narrative. Like director John Carney (also former bassist of The Frames) mentions on the dvd, this is in fact a modern musical. Compared to something like Sweeney Todd (which I watched this past weekend), neither of the characters ever just break into song, which is refreshing as it would just take me out of the film otherwise. All of the music is eased into naturally and never feels like it’s forcing it down your neck, but at the same time the music is so wonderful that you just wish for the characters to continue on forever.

Another major highlight is the performances of both Glen Hansard, who also sings for The Frames in real life, and Markéta Irglová, a classicaly trained pianist and vocalist. Together, they have this natural chemistry that you can’t create, as their relationship in the film forms over a mutual love of music. The hopeless romantic in me glows when I read something like that, as they’re both the kind of characters that are worth rooting for. It’s that story of that special person coming into your life and inspiring you to get your shit together, that makes me gravitate to films like this. It’s films like ESoTSM, Lost in Translation, and Before Sunset – all recent films that have become some of my all-time favorites – that take a minimalist approach of capturing that bond between two normal, everyday individuals.

For instance, never in Once does John Carney’s script or camerawork ever try to beat you over the head with any over-dramatic, romantic moments. It relies in smaller moments: a motorcycle ride through a countryside, a duet at a piano, on a bus ride. Each of which provide just as much romance to keep me yearning for the characters to take that step and have that first kiss.

From the very first moments of watching Glen play his guitar on the streets of Dublin, to when we first see him and Markéta first play “Falling Slowly” inside of the music store, if these moments don’t completely grab you – than you just have no soul. I know I haven’t seen enough films in 2007, but after experiencing Once, I don’t need to. Go see it!

“Falling Slowly” :: Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová

“Into The Mystic (Van Morrison cover)” :: Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová (this is only available on the limited edition soundtrack)

It almost seems natural for me now to be listening to soundtracks to films I have yet to see. Smaller films like Once never open where I live, so i’m usually sadly left with having to wait for it to be released on dvd or if i’m lucky, having it open on wider screens if it finds success like Little Miss Sunshine. Despite all of it’s accolades I had been reading, it wasn’t until I watched the trailer a few weeks ago that I knew it was a little film I would really enjoy. A simple little film telling a story of two musicians who meet one night and form a friendship over their love of music? The hopeless romantic in me glows when I read something like that. I love films like this, and hopefully i’ll be able to see it sometime soon.

I purchased the soundtrack on iTunes earlier today, basically on a whim and just listened to it today at work. I’m not familiar with either musicians besides the fact that Glen Hansard sings for The Frames and Marketa Irglova is a classicaly trained pianist and vocalist. I think it’s nice that I don’t know anything about either of them, just because it makes me enjoy listening to the music a lot more. What a great soundtrack this is though, with many of the songs coming from past albums from The Frames and a few coming from an album Hansard and Irglova recorded over four days after meeting in in 2006 called The Swell Season. Each song manages to capture such emotion, and i’m sure they do even more so in context with the actual film. It makes me wonder what their personal relationship is, because there isn’t much provided outside of the two being musical collaborators.

The songs that I really gravitated to were the few that contained Irglova singing lead vocals, as they had this very haunting quality and had this sense of hopeless yearning that made my heart ache while I was listening. Just those few songs are worth picking up this soundtrack and The Swell Season alone, but they provide a nice contrast of moods between the tracks from Irglova and Hansard’s, who’s songs have more of a hopeful and uplifting type of sound. It’s simply beautiful, with great lyrics and excellent musical arrangements. I highly recommend picking up this excellent soundtrack and The Swell Season as I think you might be pleasantly surprised at how good and enjoyable they both are.

The Swell Season | myspace | buy
Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova | “Falling Slowly”
Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova | “Alone Apart”

Once (Music from the Motion Picture) | website | trailer | buy
Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova | “When Your Mind’s Made Up”
Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova | “If You Want Me”