Concert Review: The Swell Season at the Uptown

The Swell Season is a decent, hardworking band with the misfortune of appearing to be a shrewd marketing ploy — one molded by a creative team with a weakness for schmaltz: Veteran troubadour Glen Hansard collaborates with angel-voiced young songstress Markéta Irglová. Beautiful music is made, love blossoms and an Academy Award follows. This story, of course, is available on multiple platforms. A number of the resulting songs appear in the feature film Once; on the soundtrack to that film; on an album by Hansard’s band, the Frames; and on an album by Hansard and Irglová’s band, the Swell Season. The smitten fans who bought all three albums and the movie itself must have infinite listening capacity for the song “Falling Slowly.”

At the risk of spoiling the movie, Glen and Marketa’s characters don’t end up together. And after a real-life romance, they’re not together anymore offscreen, either. What’s left is the Swell Season, a new album called Strict Joy, and a very satisfying live show. This is where a marketing team’s ideas simply wouldn’t be enough. A successful second album? That’s too unbelievable for today’s jaded consumers.