The Swell Season/Once

Perhaps I am a little late in discovering that one of my favourite albums last year was a by-product (of sorts) of a movie. Once provides the visual backdrop for The Swell Season, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova's mini opus of 2006.

Laced with delicate instrumentation and barely-there vocals, each song paves the way for your imagination to run a little more free than normal. A mournful violin on the title track traipses between whimsical gypsy notes and sombre echoes of loss. Rather than trying to overwhelm each other, Glen and Marketa's voices work almost intrinsically as one when they are together - Marketa's notes subtly highlight pockets of Glen's smooth vocal.

Listen:
Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - Alone Apart
The Frames - Happy

Released on Plateau Records. Buy.