Strict Joy (Deluxe Edition)

Glen Hansard spent more than 15 years performing his spirit-tugging soul-infused alternative rock with the Frames. Popular in Ireland, the Frames never made the Atlantic crossing. It wasn’t until Hansard’s appearance with Czech songwriter Marketa Irglova in the 2007 film Once that his music reached a worldwide mass audience. The couple, linked romantically, split up at the beginning of 2009, but remained together as a musical unit for Strict Joy. Hansard has always channeled Van Morrison in his raspy soulful strut and “Low Rising” and “Feeling the Pull” are the stronger for it. “In These Arms” recalls the alluring whisper of the Frames’ finest quiet works with the added benefit of the couple’s sweet harmonies. Hansard handles the acoustic lilt of “Paper Cut” himself.  Irglova comes to the front for the piano and string beauty of “Fantasy Man” and the Celtic-folk inspired “I Have Loved You Wrong.” There is no palpable tension between the couple, but sorrow touches many of the songs and the intimacy is undeniable.