Once Composer Glen Hansard to Release First Solo Album

Glen Hansard, half of the composing team behind the indie film Once and its current Broadway stage adaptation, is going solo. Hansard’s first solo album, Rhythm and Repose, will be released June 19 on Anti-Records.

Hansard is a singer-songwriter and longtime frontman of Irish band The Frames. He shot to international fame after starring in 2006 indie film Once. He played an Irish street musician who meets and falls for a young Czech immigrant (played on screen by Marketa Irglova) who becomes his collaborator and friend. Hansard and Irglova went on to win an Academy Award for their song “Falling Slowly,” and form the musical duo The Swell Season.

Rhythm and Repose is reportedly inspired by the Dublin native’s recent year and a half stint living in New York, much of which was spent adapting Once for the stage. The resulting show, starring Steve Kazee and Cristin Milioti in the roles created by Hansard and Irglova, enjoyed a sold-out off-Broadway run before opening to rave reviews at Broadway’s Jacobs Theatre. Hansard will also play a June 29 concert at the Beacon Theatre.