Anar

Marketa Irglova, one half of Oscar winning duo the Swell Season, says her solo debut Anar is like a time capsule of her first year in New York, where she moved from Ireland in June 2010. Fame came early to Irglova when the film Once became the breakout independent hit of 2007. On that soundtrack album and the subsequent Swell Season release Strict Joy, Irglova won over audiences with her quiet passion and increasing assurance as a musician and songwriter. Now at the ripe age of 23, her decision to branch out on her own was inspired by a combination of a Swell Season hiatus and relocating to New York. "I started writing the songs when I moved, " she recalls. "I realized if I wanted to continue making music I just had to create the circumstances for myself. So I just started writing more intensely and in a more committed way than I ever had before. " With an upcoming Broadway version of Once reminding fans of the musical magic of the film and the duo, Irglova has a built in audience for her lyrical songs, which display the influence of both her classical piano roots, with touches of Chopin and Liszt, and classic singer songwriters from Joni Mitchell to Kate Bush.