Strict Joy is the second album by The Swell Season (Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová). It was released in Ireland on October 23, 2009, the rest of Europe on October 26, and on October 27 in North America on the Anti- record label.[7][8] The title of the album was derived from a 1931 book of poems written by Irish poet James Stephens.[9]
"In These Arms", the first single from the album was released on iTunes on August 18, 2009, and began streaming on spinner.com during the same week.[10]
The Swell Season performed six of the new songs on NPR's Tiny Desk Concert on the August 10th show.[11]