The Frames

The Frames were formed in Dublin in 1990 by singer and guitarist Glen Hansard, who had begun performing as a teenage busker before appearing in Alan Parker’s film The Commitments. Signed to Island Records, the band released its debut album, Another Love Song, in 1991, introducing an emotionally direct style built around Hansard’s forceful vocals, electric guitar, and Colm Mac Con Iomaire’s violin. After leaving Island, the group independently recorded Fitzcarraldo, initially issuing it as the Frames DC in 1995 before a revised edition appeared through ZTT in 1996. The album included “Revelate,” “Monument,” and the title track. Dance the Devil followed in 1999, featuring “Pavement Tune,” “Star Star,” and “Seven Day Mile,” before For the Birds brought a quieter folk influence to songs including “Lay Me Down,” “Headlong,” and “What Happens When the Heart Just Stops” in 2001. The Frames documented their live intensity on Breadcrumb Trail in 2002 and Set List in 2003, then reached number one in Ireland with Burn the Maps in 2004. Released internationally by Anti- in 2005, the album produced the singles “Fake,” “Finally,” and “Sideways Down.” Their sixth studio album, The Cost, arrived in 2006 and included “Falling Slowly,” “When Your Mind’s Made Up,” and “People Get Ready.” The first two songs subsequently appeared in John Carney’s film Once, whose success brought Hansard and Markéta Irglová an Academy Award for “Falling Slowly” and shifted much of his attention toward the Swell Season and his solo career. The Frames nevertheless reunited periodically, marking their 20th anniversary in 2010, appearing in the 2013 documentary In the Deep Shade, celebrating 25 years with Irish concerts in 2015, and compiling key recordings on Longitude that year. Their postponed 30th-anniversary concert finally took place in Dublin in 2022. In 2026, a lineup comprising Hansard, Mac Con Iomaire, bassist Joe Doyle, guitarist Rob Bochnik, and drummer Graham Hopkins undertook an intimate Irish tour supporting grassroots venues and appeared at the Hot Press 50th-anniversary concert. On July 29, 2026, founding member and frontman Glen Hansard died aged 56 following a motorcycle crash in Dublin.