To her one such experience was meeting her new husband, music producer Sturla Mio Thorisson, who joins our conversation. “Working with Mio means everything to me. You can’t achieve much on your own,” Irglová says. Not many couples, especially among musicians, work and live together as closely and passionately as the Czech and the Icelander do. “It’s hard to explain, but for us it’s a state of being. We know our strengths and weaknesses and form a unit out of them,” Thorisson says. And Irglová adds: “Mio not only is an excellent studio engineer, above all he is also very intuitive. You think of something, and he’s already working on it.” For both of them, musical expression comes first. “I never strive for a certain direction in my work. It’s always about accompanying the story in order to make it sound the way it’s meant to be. To achieve this I have to connect with the artists and their music, and they have to trust me completely,” the 44-year-old producer says.

In their Masterkey studio near Reykjavík, they refine individual songs and experiment endlessly on them. “This sometimes can result in over a hundred tracks for one song,” Thorisson says. While Irglová’s first two albums were mainly characterized by her piano arrangements, Lila has a more symphonic feel to it and a stronger focus on string instruments, as can be heard on the first two single releases “My Roots Go Deep” and “The Season”. Again and again she also changes tempo and rhythm in her catchy melodies. In addition, Irglová’s singing has become much stronger and more expressive over the years. And what applies to her music is also valid for her lyrics. “I am constantly working on the words, until they are finished. Even when I’m doing something else, my mind mulls over ideas and lines. Whether I’m watching TV or cooking, there is always a notebook at hand, and I only find inner peace when a song is perfect,” she describes her creative work process. However, while writing down the lyrics, she doesn’t also take notes of possible chords or the musical score. “This means that before live performances, I have to relearn all the songs from my recordings,” Irglová says. However, for Lila she was able to write down the string arrangements for the first time. “Mio taught me computer sampling, and now I am able to develop the individual voices for the different instruments on the keyboard.”

“I can’t remember an experience that I couldn’t turn into music.”

Although Markéta Irglová has long found her own style and left behind her the hype around her role in Once and the hit “Falling Slowly”, she continues to be fascinated by the collaboration with Glen Hansard. In the spring of 2022, the two revived their band project The Swell Season for a short tour of the US. “Glen was a little nervous about playing the songs live with me again and was not sure how the audience would react,” Irglová says. But the fans as well as Hansard and Irglová herself were enthusiastic. “Glen has always treated me as an equal, but it was on this tour that for the first time I was able to feel that confidence in myself.” That is why they’re not only planning a European tour for next year, but are also discussing a third Swell Season album.

It would not be surprising, if the new projects would have the effect of bringing Irglová to a new place in life again. After all, notwithstanding feeling at home in Iceland with her family, she thinks that she will not stay there forever. This is not only due to the reserved nature of the Icelanders and the never-ending cold wind on the island but also to her openness to new things. “You are at home where you leave behind a part of yourself and put down roots. But I’m always looking for people who resonate with you and your development – and that’s not bound to physical boundaires.”

marketairglova.com

Album:

Lila (Marketa Irglova Music 2022)

Videos:

„My Roots Go Deep“: www.youtube.com/watch?v=temSiI9BMOY

„Season“: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfux6NeeWbA

„The Girl From A Movie“: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgjxtAQL4CA

„Quintessence“, featuring Emiliana Torrini and Aukai: www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3KKH1tTbUw

„Falling Slowly“,featuring Glen Hansard, live at The Interface: www.youtube.com/watch?v=koPjCqb3igw