Strict Joy is the third album by The Swell Season

The Swell Season

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...

 (Glen Hansard

Glen Hansard

Glen Hansard is the Academy Award–winning principal songwriter and vocalist/guitarist for Irish group The Frames and one half of folk rock duo, The Swell Season...

 and Markéta Irglová

Markéta Irglová

Markéta Irglová is a Czech songwriter, musician, actress, and singer. As of 2010, she resides in New York City.-Early life:...

). It was released in Ireland on October 23, 2009, the rest of Europe on October 26, and on October 27 in North America on the ANTI-

ANTI-

ANTI- is an American record label founded in 1999 as a sister label of Epitaph Records.While Epitaph's focus has shifted over the last decade from mostly punk rock, nowadays ANTI- has a more diverse roster, ranging from country , hip hop , reggae , Soul , folk , rap-rock , indie rock...

 record label. The title of the album was derived from a 1931 book of poems written by Irish

Irish people

The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 poet James Stephens

James Stephens (author)

James Stephens was an Irish novelist and poet.James Stephens wrote many retellings of Irish myths and fairy tales. His retellings are marked by a rare combination of humor and lyricism...

.

Hansard said about the new album: "For me, it's just an audio diary. It's just another installment of the life we lead."

The album reached number 15 on the Billboard 200

Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

.

Promotion

"In These Arms", the first single from the album was released on iTunes

ITunes

iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....

 on August 18, 2009 and began streaming

Streaming media

Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...

 on spinner.com

Spinner.com

Spinner is an AOL Music property, which bills itself as "the ultimate music blog for free MP3s, free CD listening, [and] discovering new artists."...

during the same week.

The Swell Season performed six of the new songs on NPR's Tiny Desk Concert on the August 10th show.

The second single "Low Rising" was released in December 2009 along with a video in rotation on VH1.

Track listing

1. "Low Rising" (Glen Hansard) - 3:59
2. "Feeling the Pull" (Glen Hansard) - 2:20
3. "In These Arms" (Glen Hansard) - 3:33
4. "The Rain" (Glen Hansard) - 3:40
5. "Fantasy Man" (Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová) - 5:04
6. "Paper Cup" (Glen Hansard) - 3:21
7. "High Horses" (Glen Hansard) - 5:00
8. "The Verb" (Glen Hansard) - 4:32
9. "I Have Loved You Wrong" (Markéta Irglová) - 5:04
10. "Love That Conquers" (Glen Hansard) - 3:56
11. "Two Tongues" (Glen Hansard) - 3:44
12. "Back Broke" (Glen Hansard) - 4:03
13. "Somebody Good" (Japan and Korea bonus track)
14. "When Your Mind's Made Up" (Live) (Brazil bonus track)
15. "Falling Slowly" (Live) (Brazil bonus track)
16. "Lies" (Live) (Brazil bonus track)

Special edition live disc

1. "All the Way Down"
2. "Lies"
3. "This Low"
4. "Drown Out"
5. "When Your Mind's Made Up"
6. "I Have Loved You Wrong"
7. "Falling Slowy"
8. "Leave"
9. "What Happens When the Heart Just Stops"
10. "Lay Me Down"
11. "Once"
12. "If You Want Me"
13. "Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy"
14. "Fitzcarraldo"

Special edition DVD (One Step Away - Live from the Riverside Theater, Milwaukee, WI. May 8, 2008)

1. "Say It to Me Now"
2. "All the Way Down"
3. "When Your Mind's Made Up"
4. "Lay Me Down"
5. "Falling Slowy"
6. "Gigantic"
7. "Loved You Wrong"
8. "Fitzcarraldo"
9. "Once"

Musicians

• Glen Hansard
  Glen Hansard
  Glen Hansard is the Academy Award–winning principal songwriter and vocalist/guitarist for Irish group The Frames and one half of folk rock duo, The Swell Season...
  
   - vocal
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  , guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  
• Markéta Irglová
  Markéta Irglová
  Markéta Irglová is a Czech songwriter, musician, actress, and singer. As of 2010, she resides in New York City.-Early life:...
  
   - piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  , vocal
• Colm Mac Con Iomaire
  Colm Mac Con Iomaire
  Colm Mac Con Iomaire is from Blackrock, Co. Dublin. He plays violin and sings vocals with the Irish Rock group The Frames. Mac Con Iomaire has been involved with The Frames since 1990 and has been a member of the Swell Season since 2006 .Previously, Colm was a founder member of Irish folk group...
  
   - violin
  Violin
  The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
  
  
• Rob Bochnik
  Rob Bochnik
  Rob Bochnik is a musician, audio engineer, singer and songwriter. He is currently the guitarist with The Frames, The Swell Season , The Butcher Shop Quartet and records as a solo artist...
  
   - guitar, mandolin
• Joe Doyle
  Joe Doyle (musician)
  Joe Doyle is the bassist and backing singer for Irish rock band The Frames and the Swell Season. He has been a member of The Frames since 1996, appearing on six albums to date...
  
   - bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Graham Hopkins
  Graham Hopkins
  Graham Hopkins is an Irish drummer. He is the drummer in The Swell Season, The Frames, and former drummer for the hard rock/punk rock band Therapy?.- Early years :...
  
   - drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  
• Stephen Bernstein - horn
  Horn (instrument)
  The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
  
  s
• Clark Gayton
  Clark Gayton
  Clark Gayton is an American multi-instrumentalist, musician, composer and musicians' rights advocate.-Biography:Born as Carver Clark Gayton Jr. to Carver Clark Gayton and Mona Marie Lombard, Clark Gayton is a professional musician , composer and producer.Clark studied music with Floyd Standifer,...
  
  - horns

External links

• theswellseason.com
• The Swell Season MySpace Blog