THE SWELL SEASON share new single 'Factory Street Bells'

THE SWELL SEASON share new single ‘Factory Street Bells’

Watch the video HERE

Forward – first new album in 16 years – out
June 13th

2025 tour of Europe, UK and North American begins May 13th

The Swell Season | Photo credit: David Turecky

The Swell Season (the acclaimed duo of Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová) have shared a new single “Factory Street Bells,” the third from their forthcoming first new album in 16 years, Forward, out June 13, 2025. The song builds from a spare, gentle opening to a cathartic peak filled with strings, horns, and group vocals, and is out now alongside a video filmed during the album’s recording by Irglova and producer Sturla Mio Thorisson at their Masterkey Studios in Iceland. “We live on a street in Helsinki called Tehtaankatu (Factory Street), in former shipyard workers flats. There’s a church on our street with a very distinctive hourly bell pattern,” explains Hansard. “Christy, my son, has always visibly enjoyed the bells…and when leaving for work I’d promise him, I’ll be back as soon as I can, and in the meantime, the bells would remind him of my love and return.” “Factory Street Bells” follows “Stuck In Reverse” and “People We Used To Be,” which saw praise and support from Pitchfork, The New York Times (‘Playlist’), Rolling Stone (‘Songs You Need To Know’), SPIN, Consequence, The Needle Drop, Brooklyn Vegan, and more. Forward is now available for pre-order.

Tonight in Amsterdam, NL, The Swell Season set off on their tour of Europe, the UK, Ireland, and North America that includes a number of sold-out shows. The band arrives stateside on July 11th, and the U.S. dates include July 26th at Brooklyn, NY’s Kings Theatre and September 19th at Los Angeles, CA’s The Greek. A full itinerary is below and tickets are on sale now.

Hear ‘Factory Street Bells’ on streaming services here and watch the video below.

When 16 years have passed since the release of their beloved duo’s previous album, 2009’s Strict Joy, it might be expected that Hansard and Irglová would title a new collection of The Swell Season songs as something commemorative or reflective instead of the succinct Forward. But, as anyone who has followed their career will tell you, The Swell Season doesn’t exactly do things the typical way. First formed by Hansard–then best known as the frontman of Irish rock band The Frames–and Czech pianist and singer Irglová in 2005, The Swell Season released a self-titled LP in 2006 before going on to star in and perform their songs in the film Once. Much-loved and critically praised, the movie catapulted them into the spotlight, and earned the duo the 2007 “Best Original Song” Academy Award for “Falling Slowly” before being adapted into a Tony-winning Broadway smash. Yet they have never spent much time looking back. So when the longtime friends decided amid their respective solo careers to officially reconvene for a handful of Swell Season shows in 2022, it led to not only a larger run of dates in 2023 but a recording session as well. A single, “The Answer Is Yes,” encouraged the pair to converge again in Irglová’s Iceland studio to write a new album in 2024, and from there, well, it seemed there was only one direction for The Swell Season to go. “It felt right to title the record ‘Forward’ because it’s a reunion of sorts, but we’re not going backwards,” Irglová says. “Both of us have grown and changed; we’re in different places and getting to know each other again as the new people we’ve become.”

The pair started working through song ideas they had written independently, choosing pieces that could benefit from the other’s touches, while some were composed entirely on the spot, seizing on the inspiration of their shared space. The synergy of their dynamic returned instantly–like turning on a tap–with Irglová seated at the piano and Hansard on his guitar; Hansard, who doesn’t typically set out to write intentionally for any specific project, found that Irglova’s ability to “call (him) out, artistically” and keep things on task really helped him to dial in on what the song required in the context of The Swell Season. With the intention of keeping things succinct, Hansard and Irglová walked away after three different sessions with eight songs decided on for Forward, which also features original Swell Season musicians Marja Gaynor and Bertrand Galen (strings) and Joseph Doyle (bass), and newcomer Piero Perelli (drums and percussion).

There is space to move around in these songs, and enough air to let the listener settle in and appreciate the loveliness–and, above all, a measured, harmonious balance. Where Hansard’s tendency is to keep things rough and raw, stripped-down and grainy, Irglová’s songs move more into the lush, polished, cinematic world; the duo challenged themselves to find each song’s meeting-point while always staying true to each other’s intentions. Through it all, the group’s thesis statement remains as strong and unwavering as ever: never, ever give up; keep going, no matter how hard. In other words: Forward.

This month, The Swell Season will embark on a lengthy tour of Europe, the UK, Ireland, and North America in support of the album. A full itinerary is below and tickets are on sale now.

The Swell Season 2025 live dates

May 13 – Amsterdam, NL – Koninklijk Theater Carré
May 14 – Antwerp, BG – De Roma
May 16 – Köln, DE – Stadthalle Köln-Mülheim Jülich GmbH
May 17 – Hamburg, DE – CCH – Congress Center Hamburg
May 19 – Berlin, DE – Admiralspalast
May 20 – Vienna, AUT – Wiener Konzerthaus
May 21 – Prague, CZ – Forum Karlín
May 23 – Kraków, POL – Klub Studio
May 24 – Warszawa, POL – Klub Stodoła
May 25 – Brno, CZ – Sono Centrum
May 28 – London, UK – Royal Festival Hall
May 29 – Gateshead, UK – The Glasshouse
May 31 – Dublin, IE – National Concert Hall
June 01 – Dublin, IE – National Concert Hall
July 11 – Vienna, VA – Wolf Trap
July 12 – Cincinnati, OH – Taft Theatre
July 13 – Indianapolis, IN – Murat Theatre
July 15 – Milwaukee, WI – Riverside Theater
July 16 – Minneapolis, MN – Orpheum Theatre
July 18 – Chicago, IL – Auditorium Theatre
July 19 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore Detroit
July 21 – Toronto, ON – Massey Hall
July 23 – Rochester, NY – Kodak Center
July 25 – Northampton, MA – The Pines Theater
July 26 – Brooklyn, NY – Kings Theatre
July 29 – Philadelphia, PA – The Met
July 31 – Greenville, SC – Peace Center
August 01 – Durham, NC – Durham Performing Arts Center
August 02 – Atlanta, GA – The Woodruff Arts Center
September 09 – St. Louis, MO – The Factory
September 10 – Kansas City, MO – The Midland Theatre
September 12 – Dallas, TX – The Majestic Theater
September 13 – Austin, TX – ACL Live at The Moody Theater
September 15 – Santa Fe, NM – Lensic Performing Arts Center
September 16 – Mesa, AZ – Mesa Arts Center (Ikeda Theater)
September 19 – Los Angeles, CA – The Greek Theatre
September 20 – San Francisco, CA – The Masonic
September 22 – Portland, OR – Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
September 23 – Vancouver, BC – The Orpheum Theatre
September 24 – Seattle, WA – The Paramount Theatre