If the story of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova — the core members of The Swell Season — seems like something out of a movie, well, in a sense, it is.

But it’s also a very real-life story.

Hansard is Irish; Irglova is from the Czech Republic. The pair first met 8 years ago in the Czech Republic when Hansard’s band, The Frames, was there on tour. At the time, Irglova was only 13. Her father was a concert promoter and invited the band to a party, where the classically trained Irglova played a Mendelssohn piece on the piano. Hansard was impressed and invited her to play with him at various other gigs.

Fast-forward a few years, and Glen Hansard suggested Marketa Irglova for a part in “Once,” the 2007 movie he was going to star in — directed by the Frames’ former bass player, John Carney. In “Once,” Hansard played a street busker who becomes emotionally and musically entangled with a Czech street vendor and pianist — the part that Irglova landed. (Hansard had actually acted in a music-themed movie once before — he portrayed one of the band members in the popular Irish film “The Commitments” in 1991.)

During the making of “Once,” the two fell in love and became a couple, despite their 18-year age difference. (Hansard is now 39, Irglova 21.) By then, the Frames had morphed into the Swell Season, with Irglova on board. They composed the film score, and their public profile spiked considerably when “Falling Slowly” — the film’s musical centerpiece — won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. The duo also earned two Grammy nominations.

"Falling Slowly" with clips from "Once":

So, the Swell Season — who come to the Michigan Theater on Wednesday, December 2 — became a much hotter commodity than the Frames had been. The “Once” soundtrack album went gold, selling over 700,000 copies, and the band graduated from playing mid-sized theaters to bigger venues, including a sold-out showcase gig at Radio City Music Hall in ’08.

In “Once,” the mismatched couple don’t end up together. And life more or less imitated art again last summer when Hansard and Irglova ended their romance, though neither has ever stated exactly why.

But the pair decided that the show must go on, so they kept the group together and made the difficult transition from lovers to “just friends” and bandmates. And in late October, that musical communion yielded the group’s new, mostly acoustic album, “Strict Joy,” which has earned glowing reviews for its creative mix of hushed atmospherics, orchestral arrangements, supple guitars and the occasional funky-soul styling or country music flourish.

And some of the lyrics were clearly inspired by the couple’s romance and breakup, as they unflinchingly probe the topic of finding and losing love, and sifting through the emotional rubble afterward.

Listen to a selection of songs from The Swell Season "Strict Joy"

"The romantic thing was great, it was a lovely adventure,” Hansard recently told CNN.com. “But you know, if you're mature enough to sort of look someone in the eye and go, 'You know what, this isn't working' — which she is and I know I'm getting there — it actually frees you and allows you to go be mates. It works out really much better because we've got a deeper understanding of who each other are."

Since they’ve ended as lovers, Hansard and Irglova now create music differently than they did when they were two of an imperfect pair. When they were a couple, each would contribute to the other’s compositions early in the songwriting process. For this album, however, they each brought their individual, fully-formed songs to the table.

“Nowadays, it’s more opinion and correction rather than getting excited about the original idea and then just sort of running with it until it’s finished,” Hansard continued.

Although their romance ended in ’08, they didn’t divulge that tidbit to the press — or to their fans — until earlier this year. And on the road, Hansard and Irglova have noted how fans have reacted to the change in their personal relationship — for example, watching for little visual cues or glances between the two when the group is onstage.

Many of those fans “seem to hold on to the view that we’re still meant to be,” Irglova told the Wall Street Journal in October. But, she added, that “never seems to get in the way of how they perceive the music.”

PREVIEW The Swell Season Who: Mostly acoustic pop group led by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. With special guest Rachel Yamagata. What: Atmospheric, sometimes delicate acoustic-pop, marked by subtle orchestrations, shimmery harmonies and occasional forays into soul and country music. Where: Michigan Theater, 603 East Liberty Street. When: Wednesday, December 2, 7:30 p.m. How much: $29.50 - $35. Details: 734-668-8397, 734-763-TKTS / Michigan Theater web site.

Kevin Ransom is a free-lance writer who covers music for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at KevinRansom10@aol.com.