Will The Swell Season be able to sustain a decent career now that they're not attached the kind of cloying Once? We're about to find out now, as the group is back with a new album, titled Strict Joy, and a new single, "Low Rising," that they performed on Conan last night. The performance is as heartfelt and weepy as usual. As a sidebar, I don't think I've seen a group that was this spread across a stage on a late night TV show. It's like no one could be within six feet of each other. 

Strict Joy is out now.