When it comes to The Swell Season, a group whose legacy was cemented not strictly by their music but by the 2007 feature film Once, which starred the band’s two principal songwriters as struggling Dublin musicians, it’s hard not to look back. The fact that those leads—Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová—became a real-life romantic couple, broke up, and have continued to make music together for nearly two decades only further enriches The Swell Season’s backstory. Forward, not surprisingly, attempts to write a new chapter. And deservedly so, as plenty has happened in the 16 years following their previous album, 2009’s Strict Joy. Irglová and Hansard have moved to different places, released a number of solo albums, had children, and gotten on with life, all while remaining close friends and collaborators. The songs here are as tender and sincere as ever: “Factory Street Bells” is Hansard’s promise to his young son that he’ll always return home. On “I Leave Everything to You,” Irglová lays all her cards on the table for her loved ones. And others deal with themes of regret, reconciliation, and the challenges of just facing the world each day. But no matter how much the desire to move on exists, Hansard and Irglová can’t help but reflect on the past, whether on the comforting “People We Used to Be” or in lines like “I tried to move forward, but I’m stuck in reverse.”