The Swell Season – People We Used to Be Review

High expectations are felt with the reunion of Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. The pair has a wonderful understanding of the essentials. Guitar, piano, voice. You can do plenty with that, and their partnership as The Swell Season, the first time the pair has worked together in over a decade, is a welcome reminder of their skill for soft and moving sounds. People We Used to Be, the lead single from the upcoming album, Forward, has the duo pick up with the contemporary folk sound they were so effective with the first time around. Once remains a delightful movie, and hearing the chemistry is still at play between the pair is a treat. People We Used to Be carries Hansard and Irglová to that expected quality, a level which has been matched, pushed, and matched again by folk contemporaries.  

What, then, is their place? Hansard had a delightful solo album in 2023 with All That Was East Is West of Me Now, so too did Irglová with Where You Belong. The latter may not have reached as many ears as Hansard, but together, The Swell Season carries with them a burning passion, the constant of their sound. Growth as a person is not always a positive; that appears to be the message Hansard and Irglová offer on People We Used to Be. Listen that little bit closer, though, and what begins as a regret-filled change of heart becomes a charming acceptance of who we now are. The Swell Season speaks not to the listener, who is eavesdropping on a charmed and moving conversation between two songwriters. Separate, separate, overlap. That is the beauty of this song, where Hansard and Irglová are given time to develop their voice independently, before the inevitable, string-laden blowout at the end.  

Predictable it may be, People We Used to Be is borderline magical at times. Those who want to be moved, pushed on to be a better version of themselves, that is what this song offers. Do not be content with where you are now, even if satisfaction is the overwhelming feeling for the here and now. People We Used to Be accepts the passage of time, the impact of change on the heart. But what it does not accept is the change itself. Hansard and Irglová are magnificent in noting their distaste at the hard work coming undone. Those flames are dangerous. They hope their listeners, those who happen to be a part of this storytelling circle, see the reason and adapt it to their own lives. Change begets change and though the stumbles made are clear, Hansard and Irglová make a confident, comfortable offering.  

Care is what becomes clear. Whether it is current and present or absent, eroded by the passage of time and those unforeseen changes, that is up to a listener. People We Used to Be offers a gap of suggestibility, a reasonable gap where a listener can insert themselves into the context of the song. But what People We Used to Be does not do is pander to the listener; it does not guide them by the hand to where they need to be. Step into the soul-searching, the shortcomings which come from predictable strings are overhauled by the fantastic vocal strengths of both singers, the piano and guitar overlap, which has been the core of their musical collaborations for decades now. Their folk sensibilities are lost to the wider appeal of louder sound, but it is understandable. People We Used to Be asks people to steady themselves, because the imbalance, the fall-off, is hard for loved ones to see.