Markéta Irglova announced in November of 2011 that she had begun work on her debut solo album, and one year later she delivers. The first song I heard was "Crossroads," which remains one of my favourites from the album. It has a certain Yann Tiersen flair, particularly in the arrangement, but has a melodic strength and focus which was learned from Irglova's time with Glen Hansard in The Swell Season. Most importantly, Irglova is singing and playing with a whole new level of intensity, clarity and skill. The song left me excited for the full album, and I can happily say it did not disappoint.

Irglova had only released five of her own songs over the course of three albums from The Swell Season, and they were consistently delivered with a modest hush, as if she was always painfully aware of being in Glen Hansard's shadow. 18 years her senior, Hansard's world-weary confidence and 20-year experience as front-man and songwriter for The Frames would intimidate anybody in her position. Irglova was 18 years old when The Swell Season released their debut and 21 when they released the brilliant Strict Joy, to which she contributed "Fantasy Man" and "I Have Loved You Wrong." Those two songs showed her come into her own as a songwriter and left any attentive listener wondering when she would inevitably begin her solo career.

Her songwriting credits with The Swell Season also include two co-writes, one of which is the Academy Award-winning "Falling Slowly," which appeared in the independent John Carney film Once. With the award, she became both the first Czech woman to win an Oscar and the youngest person to ever win in a musical category. The romantic film caught the hearts of the public, who were happy to later learn that during the making of the film, the two leads, Irglova and Hansard, had consummated the relationship that was left unfulfilled in the film.

The film also spawned their band, The Swell Season, but by the time of their 2009 release, Strict Joy, their relationship had ended. Not surprisingly, the major theme of that album is the end of a relationship, while the major theme of their eponymous debut had been falling in love. Irglova's solo album mixes those two themes, with songs left over from the end of her relationship with Hansard, and newer songs inspired by her recent marriage to audio engineer Tim Iseler.

The album smartly opens with "Your Company," the track most reminiscent of The Swell Season, with hushed vocals, prominent harmonies, and a straightforward, chord-driven arrangement. Irglova knows that most of her fans are coming to her through The Swell Season, and this is her song for them. The lyrics are pure Hansard-esque heart-breaking romanticism, with lines like "Your hand brushed against my knee, I thought I would die... and I tried to remember why I shouldn't want you."

Though The Swell Season influence certainly factors throughout the album, the only other tracks which really embrace it are "We Are Good" and "For Old Times' Sake." The former is a vocal-driven song which uses dynamics to their full effect, the instruments swelling and cutting away powerfully. The latter is not-so-subtly about Hansard and their failed relationship. Horns, a tasteful rhythm section, and a simple chord progression support Irglova's naked lyrics, which open with "Hold me tight, but just for tonight, and not as tight as before, we're not that close anymore."

The rest of the album is generally divided between soulful, groovy songs such as "Divine Timing" and "Go Back," and songs with a cinematic, European mood such as "Wings of Desire" and "Dokhtar Goochani," both moods she delivers convincingly and passionately. The closing track "Now You Know" is a gentle ballad which is mostly delivers by Irglova alone with her piano. The song begins to build up with the lines "And I want to move my lips right close to your ear and whisper things that only you are meant to hear. I'm falling for you, what a stupid thing to do, but there you go, at least now you know." The song (and the album) comes to a crescendo when Irglova is joined by her harmony singers, and string section, dominating the back half of the final song.

Markéta Irglova has definitely captured the sincerity and passion that she and Hansard had exhibited with The Swell Season. Her ability to convey the deepest emotions with a simple phrase, melody, chord change, or just the way she hits the chord, rivals Hansard's and will tug at the heartstrings of listeners just as effectively as did her albums with him.

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