The virtuosos of piano/acoustic melancholia, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova from The Swell Season, condense their poignant romanticism and deft playing in Strict Joy, an impressively arranged album turgid with emotion and character.If you saw Once and were charmed and moved by its unabashedly impromptu feel and stark portrayal of friendship, lust, and love, you will be smitten over Strict Joy for how much it revisits the same direction but with new and fresh substance. The single In These Arms, released in August as a teaser for the album, gives you a deceptive taste of where the album can go at times. It’s a great song and emblematic of the soft, lulling emotive plane Hansard and Irglova come back to often in their music; but it lacks the supple variance these two can accomplish at times. For example, Feeling the Pull and The Rain are straightforward songs, stories told simply but arranged beautifully with the added depth from strings and horns. Varying modes are diligently combined here – blues, folk, jazz – and result in sharp corners and turns that pleasantly surprise. The only thing slacking a little bit is the percussion, which doesn’t rise up to the music’s playful, expansive imagination. I only mention it because I’ve encountered some great percussionists lately and I feel like a good song blooms into greatness with the right drummer. For instance, Love that Conquers is a folksy tune with twangy strings that sound like their coming from some opium den; but it’s begging for some congas and bongos. Nevertheless, this album coaxes you out of the technical and into a kind of soulful space, making you forget about the cool person you are as you submit to all that makes you feel vulnerable. And oddly, you’re left feeling thankful.
David Rozon
Key Tracks: Love that Conquers, In These Arms, High Horses, Feeling the Pull
Moods: Dreamy, Dramatic, Gentle, Passionate, Lush, Warm
Buy: Strict Joy
related
- The Swell Season @ L’Olympia – 11.04.09
- Grizzly Bear @ Le National – 06.04.09
- Phoenix! Live Album! For Free!
