Anar / Marketa Irglova (4.5/5)

Folk. Solo debut album of Czech pianist and songwriter Marketa Irglova who already gained international fame through the duo The Swell Season with Glen Hansard and songs like “Falling Slowly”.

The music is not very different from that of Swell Season but nevertheless intoxicating. Her serene and teeming voice resonates in a melancholy and ethereal mood. The music is generally slow-tempo with minor melodies and chorus that fills in to create a beautiful harmony that almost sounds divine. The instrumentation is simple with mostly piano accompaniment and occasional fill-ins of chello, acoustic guitar, brass, and horn. There isn’t much variation on the tracks, however, and more musical experimentation would have been interesting. Try 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 11. All tracks FCC clean.


#1 ** (4:53) Piano accompaniment, soothing and melancholy vocal with chorus at the end.
#2 * (5:10) Melancholy and beautiful harmony with the chorus like a choir
#3 * (5:12) Similar to 2
#4 (3:47) Chello background
#5 (3:02) interesting piano intro
#6 ** (3:29) Beautiful harmony with chorus,
#7 * (3:09) Starts quietly but builds up with brass fill-in,
#8 * (5:33) Beautiful harmony with chorus
#9 (4:44) Horn fill-in
#10 (2:25) Instrumental, chello plays the melodies and slowly builds up to climax
#11 * (4:01) Remake of traditional tune from Iranian singer Shahla Sarchar, a taste of slightly oriental and hypnotic air
#12 (3:45) Melancholy and sincere, marachas (rumba shakers) used