After the Swell Season won the Oscar for 'Falling Slowly' from 'Once,' some ridiculous offers poured in, causing Glen Hansard to question the group's next move. "I got offered the opportunity to go live in a town and write songs for other people," Hansard tells Spinner. "It was a pretty lucrative offer and it was a nice town. That was one instance. A super blockbuster Hollywood film offered me a meaty part. Now it's come out and I'm glad I didn't. "

For Hansard and his writing partner, Marketa Irglova, he says when it came down to it they had to look within and figure out what was the right move for their music. "You just hope that your music gets heard but sometimes the world conspires towards your happiness," he says of the Oscar moment. "The thing that happened after that was a door was kicked open. It just came out of nowhere. It was a violent act, a violent experience."

Hansard was left wrestling with making decisions about offers that he describes as "very inauthentic." Indeed, setting up shop in a town to write does seem a little forced, but coming out of the Oscar madness, he seems to have reached a grounded space where making another record -- like their new full length 'Strict Joy' -- was the best decision.

"I think it made me more mindful of our authenticity. It's such an odd word to use in a way, but it's the right word," he says. "You can go and work the rest of your life if you take the offers that come your way. If your end goal is to own a nice house on top of a hill, then sure, this opportunity would lead to that. But what feels truthful and what feels like chess is a thing. You have to look inward and see if this is something I really should be doing."

The Swell Season's new album 'Strict Joy' is out now on Anti- Records.