The Swell Season to release their first album in 16 years

Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová have been through a lot together. First, they were musical partners, releasing their first album as the duo The Swell Season in 2006.

Then, they were co-stars in Once, the Irish film about two musicians who fall in love. During the filming of that movie, Hansard and Irglová fell in love. Then, they were Oscar winners, sharing their award for best original song for “Falling Slowly.”

This all happened in the span of about two years. It was intense. Their romantic relationship ended not long after, and The Swell Season released their album Strict Joy in 2009.

It may have seemed like that was it, but the bond Hansard and Irglová have as songwriters never went away. Now, they’re back with a new album, out June 13. It’s the first in 16 years from The Swell Season, and it’s called Forward.

In this session, they talk about moving forward as artists; about their experiences together; and they’ll perform songs both new and old.

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Kimberly Junod. The web story was created by Miguel Perez. Our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.

 

Hundreds of South Koreans are among 475 detained in a Georgia immigration raid

"The business activities of our investors and the rights of our nationals must not be unjustly infringed," a foreign ministry spokesman said after about 300 South Koreans were detained.

Four Democratic senators urge Smithsonian to resist White House attempts to ‘bully the institution’

Sen. Alex Padilla of California and three other Democrats are reminding the Smithsonian's secretary that the institution "is the responsibility of Congress."

Greetings from Guhagar, India, where newly hatched turtles get some help into the sea

Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR's international team shares moments from their lives and work around the world.

Israel is blasting through Gaza City neighborhoods, but people have nowhere to go

Israel's military says it has gained "operational control" of 40% of Gaza City and plans to intensify its attacks in a large-scale ground offensive to fully occupy the city.

Horror, rom-coms and ‘Hamilton’ are all in theaters this weekend

This weekend, Hamilton is in theaters in honor of its anniversary, a new Conjuring horror film opens, and Dylan O'Brien stars in a twisty story about grief.

The U.S. added only 22,000 jobs last month, showing cracks in the labor market

The U.S. job market showed more signs of weakness Friday, as the Labor Department reported just 22,000 jobs added last month. Revised figures show the economy lost jobs in June, and the unemployment rate inched up to 4.3%.

More Front Page Coverage