Once (Music from the Motion Picture)

The little Irish musical that could and its celebrated Oscar winning soundtrack have inadvertently answered the question, does life imitate art or does art imitate life? The answer is…both. The Frames frontman Glen Hansard conceptualized an indie film that perfectly captured the struggle of the street busking musician (played by Hansard) and the magic moments that occur within a musical chemistry when a man and a woman discover that their vocal harmonies can braid together so closely as to birth a third voice. Pixie voiced Markéta Irglová played the part of the harmonious love interest. Subsequently the two actors/singers formed a real life band (The Swell Season) and an off camera relationship following the film's completion. The swooning opener "Falling Slowly" became the hit of the soundtrack, and rightfully so. Hansard pulled the reigns on his usual emo-tinged howl to make way for Irglová's equally powerful yet dainty vocal parts. The finesse in restraint here builds up a powerful tension that's released in the crescendos of the chorus. On songs like the wispy "If You Want Me" Irglová's endearing Czech accented inflections sometimes upstage Hansard's singing. And though the film may have ended with plot closure, this outstanding soundtrack begs for a sequel.