The Swell Season, the Oscar-winning folk duo of Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, have announced their first new album in 16 years: Forward arrives June 13. They’ve also shared the new song “Stuck in Reverse” with a black-and-white music video of the two performing the track in a small bar. Check out that Anthony Mulcahy–directed visual below.
The follow-up to 2009’s Strict Joy was produced by Sturla Mio Thorisson and boasts eight songs, including the previously released single “People We Used to Be.” “It felt right to title the record Forward because it’s a reunion of sorts, but we’re not going backwards,” said 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. 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 Markéta and saying, ‘Do you feel like doing some gigs?’” said Hansard. “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.”
Hansard and Irglová teamed up for their debut album, 2006’s The Swell Season, before starring in the 2007 movie Once, in which they perform a number of the record’s tracks as the film’s romantic leads. The indie movie’s word-of-mouth hype catapulted it, as well as the Swell Season, to fame, with the duo earning the Academy Award for Best Original Song with “Falling Slowly.” Revisit Pitchfork’s 2008 interview with Hansard and Irglová days after the Swell Season’s Oscar win.
