After releasing two one-off tracks as a precursor to their first Swell Season album in 16 years, Oscar-winning Once duo Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová have confirmed details for the project, Forward, which is due June 13. Another single, “Stuck in Reverse,” is out now and is accompanied by a video filmed last month during a pop-up performance at tiny New York bar Scratcher.
After releasing two one-off tracks as a precursor to their first Swell Season album in 16 years, Oscar-winning Once duo Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová have confirmed details for the project, Forward, which is due June 13. Another single, “Stuck in Reverse,” is out now and is accompanied by a video filmed last month during a pop-up performance at tiny New York bar Scratcher.
The eight-song Forward was recorded at Irglová’s home studio, Masterkey, in Iceland, with contributions from her husband and producer Sturla Mio Thorisson, original Swell Season musicians Marja Gaynor and Bertrand Galen (strings) and Joseph Doyle (bass), plus nee drummer/percussionist Piero Perelli.
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“It felt right to title the record Forward because it’s a reunion of sorts, but we’re not going backwards,” says Irglová. “Both of us have grown and changed. We’re in different places and getting to know each other again as the new people we’ve become.”
“After our whirlwind that led up to the Oscars and after, we were so busy and with that came a pressure that neither of us particularly wanted, and ultimately we kind of drifted in the middle of all of that hard work and celebration,” Hansard admits. “We remained good friends, helping on each other’s records, keeping up with each other’s families. While touring my last record, I realized I just missed her. I remember calling Marketa and saying, ‘Do you feel like doing some gigs?’ She said, ‘Yeah, that sounds great,’ and the shows went really well. Once we were hanging out again, new songs started coming through, and we started trying new ideas and playing the songs onstage. From there the idea was to do a little recording and not put any pressure on it — just see what happens — and suddenly we found ourselves making a record. And we were both totally into it, and so here we are — a new chapter of our lives.”
The Swell Season returns to the road May 13 in Amsterdam and have dates set through Sept. 24 in Seattle.
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