Before their performance in the movie Once won them Oscars, Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard and Czech singer-pianist Markéta Irglová released quietly brooding songs as the Swell Season. On Strict Joy, the duo deliver with their most dynamic set yet, with hot Irish soul segueing into energetic folk rock and dream-pop-touched balladry. What unifies the album is its sexual tension. Irglová's "Fantasy Man" is a barely veiled rumination on the duo's complicated post-Once relationship: "The force that swept us both away was too strong for us to fight."