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The Swell Season – Strict Joy
Listening to Strict Joy without any knowledge of the participant’s personal history is an interesting case study. This is an extraordinary example of a break up record. It easily rates amongst the classics in the genre, like The Reindeer Section’s tearjerker, Son Of Evil Reindeer.
In real life, Irish musician Glen Hansard (The Frames) and Czech pianist Markéta Irglová meet during the filming of the Oscar winning independent film Once and feel in love. If Once was the story of them falling in love, then Strict Joy is the story of them falling out of it.
It’s to the duo’s credit that even with the overall sadness infused in tracks like I Have Loved You Wrong, Fantasy Man and The Rain that the way they weave their voices together in harmony is still so achingly beautiful. Hansard knows his way around song arrangement and his use of instrumentation on this record is very impressive. There is enough space between all the parts to let the music breath in a most organic way.
If true beauty exists is the correct mixture between the extremes of the happy and the sad, then the minds behind Strict Joy prove to be examples of sonic alchemist extraordinaires.
Rob Hudson
www.theswellseason.com
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