The Swell Season
Encyclopedia
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. Their debut album
goes by the same name.
Since their rise to prominence after starring in the 2007 film Once
, they increasingly referred to themselves as "The Swell Season" in promotion of their performances until it became the formal name of their collaboration in 2008. (Notably, they still used their separate names when they contributed their cover of Bob Dylan
's "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere
" to the 2007 soundtrack
of I'm Not There
.)
During a three year period from 2007 to 2010 a documentary film was made about Irglova and Hansard called The Swell Season which was released in the autumn of 2011 having been premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2011 to very positive review.
The self-titled first album came about after Glen and Marketa were approached by the Czech film director Jan Hřebejk
while touring in the Czech Republic
, and were asked by him to record songs for his upcoming film Beauty in Trouble
. It was the first album that Hansard, the singer for The Frames
, had released independent of his band.
Some of the tracks on this album have appeared on other recordings - the track "Falling Slowly
" and "When Your Mind's Made Up" on The Frames
' album The Cost
, and "Falling Slowly", "When Your Mind's Made Up", "Lies" and "Leave" on the Once
soundtrack.
Glen and Marketa parodied their roles from Once in The Simpsons
episode, In the Name of the Grandfather
.
A follow up album, Strict Joy
, was released on October 27, 2009 in the United States. Three singles from the album have been released: "In These Arms," "Low Rising," and "Feeling the Pull."
Spin Magazine's review of Strict Joy
gave the album 4 out of 5 stars. "If Glen Hansard
's and Markéta Irglová
's roles in the hit Irish indie film Once
unintentionally wove the tale of their real-life falling in love, their second album as the Swell Season weaves the story of their falling out of it." SPIN.com
In August 2010, The Swell Season covered Neutral Milk Hotel
's "Two-Headed Boy" for The AV Club.
At an August 19, 2010 concert at the Mountain Winery
, a concert attendee leapt to his death from the roof of the venue onto the stage. The death was deemed a suicide
. The band provided and paid for group counseling sessions for concert attendees who witnessed the event.
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
duo formed by Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
musician 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 Czech
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
singer and pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
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:...
. "The Swell Season" name is derived from Hansard's favourite novel by Josef Škvorecký
Josef Škvorecký
Josef Škvorecký, CM is a leading contemporary Czech writer and publisher who has spent much of his life in Canada. He and his wife were long-time supporters of Czech dissident writers before the fall of communism in that country...
from 1975 bearing the same title. Their debut album
The Swell Season (album)
The Swell Season is the self-titled and first album by the duo The Swell Season, , released in 2006."Falling Slowly" went on to be nominated for a grammy and win the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2008....
goes by the same name.
Since their rise to prominence after starring in the 2007 film Once
Once (film)
Once is a 2006 Irish musical film written and directed by John Carney. Set in Dublin, this naturalistic drama stars musicians Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová as musicians...
, they increasingly referred to themselves as "The Swell Season" in promotion of their performances until it became the formal name of their collaboration in 2008. (Notably, they still used their separate names when they contributed their cover of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere
You Ain't Goin' Nowhere
"You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" is a song written by Bob Dylan in 1967 in Woodstock, New York, during the self-imposed exile from public appearances that followed his July 29, 1966 motorcycle accident. A recording of Dylan performing the song was first officially released on the Bob Dylan's Greatest...
" to the 2007 soundtrack
I'm Not There (soundtrack)
The soundtrack album for the Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There was released as a double CD on October 30, 2007. It features only one recording by Dylan himself—his previously unreleased recording of the title song "I'm Not There" recorded during The Basement Tapes' sessions in 1967—plus...
of I'm Not There
I'm Not There
I'm Not There is a 2007 biographical musical film directed by Todd Haynes, inspired by iconic American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Six actors depict different facets of Dylan's life and public persona: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, and Ben Whishaw...
.)
During a three year period from 2007 to 2010 a documentary film was made about Irglova and Hansard called The Swell Season which was released in the autumn of 2011 having been premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2011 to very positive review.
History
Jan Hrebejk
Jan Hřebejk is a Czech film director.-Early life and education:Born in Prague, Hřebejk studied together with his classmate Petr Jarchovský at high school. Now Jarchovsky is a frequent collaborator as a screenwriter...
while touring in the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, and were asked by him to record songs for his upcoming film Beauty in Trouble
Beauty in Trouble
Beauty in Trouble is a 2006 Czech tragicomedy directed by Jan Hřebejk. Eddie Cockrell, writing in Variety, said the "[t]itle comes from the Robert Graves poem, itself adapted into a Czech popular song in the 1980s, and performed in the film by homegrown thrush Radůza...
. It was the first album that Hansard, the singer for The Frames
The Frames
The Frames are an Irish band based in Dublin. Founded in 1990 by Glen Hansard, the band has been influential in the Dublin rock music scene. The group has released six albums...
, had released independent of his band.
Some of the tracks on this album have appeared on other recordings - the track "Falling Slowly
Falling Slowly
"Falling Slowly" is a song written and performed by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, as well as by Hansard's band, The Frames. It appeared in their 2007 film Once, from which it won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 80th Academy Awards....
" and "When Your Mind's Made Up" on The Frames
The Frames
The Frames are an Irish band based in Dublin. Founded in 1990 by Glen Hansard, the band has been influential in the Dublin rock music scene. The group has released six albums...
' album The Cost
The Cost
The Cost is the sixth studio album by The Frames, released in Ireland on Plateau Records on September 22, 2006. The album was released worldwide on ANTI- on February 20, 2007. The album exhibits a sound more like that of For the Birds than their more recent album Burn the Maps...
, and "Falling Slowly", "When Your Mind's Made Up", "Lies" and "Leave" on the Once
Once (film)
Once is a 2006 Irish musical film written and directed by John Carney. Set in Dublin, this naturalistic drama stars musicians Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová as musicians...
soundtrack.
Glen and Marketa parodied their roles from Once in The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode, In the Name of the Grandfather
In the Name of the Grandfather
"In the Name of the Grandfather" is the fourteenth episode of the twentieth season of The Simpsons. It first aired on Sky1 in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 2009 and aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 22, 2009. It was the first...
.
A follow up album, Strict Joy
Strict Joy
Strict Joy is the third album by The Swell Season . 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- record label...
, was released on October 27, 2009 in the United States. Three singles from the album have been released: "In These Arms," "Low Rising," and "Feeling the Pull."
Spin Magazine's review of Strict Joy
Strict Joy
Strict Joy is the third album by The Swell Season . 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- record label...
gave the album 4 out of 5 stars. "If 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...
's 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:...
's roles in the hit Irish indie film Once
Once
Once may refer to:Music* Once * Once * Once * Once * Once * Once , an Indonesian singerOther uses* Once...
unintentionally wove the tale of their real-life falling in love, their second album as the Swell Season weaves the story of their falling out of it." SPIN.com
In August 2010, The Swell Season covered Neutral Milk Hotel
Neutral Milk Hotel
Neutral Milk Hotel was an American indie rock band formed by singer, guitarist and songwriter Jeff Mangum in the early 1990s. The band was noted for its experimental sound, obscure lyrics and eclectic instrumentation....
's "Two-Headed Boy" for The AV Club.
At an August 19, 2010 concert at the Mountain Winery
Mountain Winery
The Mountain Winery, formerly the Paul Masson Mountain Winery, is a winery in Saratoga, California, USA. It was founded by Paul Masson, a pioneer of the California wine industry...
, a concert attendee leapt to his death from the roof of the venue onto the stage. The death was deemed a suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. The band provided and paid for group counseling sessions for concert attendees who witnessed the event.
Albums
- The Swell SeasonThe Swell Season (album)The Swell Season is the self-titled and first album by the duo The Swell Season, , released in 2006."Falling Slowly" went on to be nominated for a grammy and win the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2008....
(2006) - Once Soundtrack (2007)
- Strict JoyStrict JoyStrict Joy is the third album by The Swell Season . 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- record label...
(2009)
Singles
- "Falling SlowlyFalling Slowly"Falling Slowly" is a song written and performed by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, as well as by Hansard's band, The Frames. It appeared in their 2007 film Once, from which it won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 80th Academy Awards....
" (2007) - "When Your Mind's Made Up" (2007)
- "Falling Slowly" (2008, re-release, #61 Billboard Hot 100Billboard Hot 100The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
) - "Into the Mystic" (2008, part of "Before the Goldrush", the Teach For America Covers Project)
- "In These Arms" (2009)
- "Low Rising" (2009)
- "Feeling the Pull" (2010)