An Unreal Experience - Hozier's New Album

Hozier’s latest masterpiece, ‘Unreal Unearth’, is even more stunning than we could have hoped.

Hozier is the professional name of Andrew Hozier-Byrne, singer-songwriter-musician, who has just released his third album ‘Unreal Unearth’ in August 2023. The album reached Number 1 in the UK and in Ireland, for which he offered a “sincere thank you” to his fans on social media.

His previous album, ‘Wasteland, Baby!’ (2019) holds a special place in my heart as the album that pulled me through my GCSE years and the Covid-19 lockdown. During this period, I, like so many others, fought tooth and nail with my declining mental health and I, like so many others, turned to art to help me cope. Whether it be Netflix bingeing, repeat playlists, or even picking up a paintbrush yourself, the work of creatives brings us all comfort in some way. As Hozier says in ‘To Noise Making (Sing)’:

“You don’t have to sing it nice but, Honey, sing it strong / At best, you’ll find a little remedy / At worst, the world will sing along”

‘Wasteland, Baby!’ was the blanket over me and the teddy bear I held at night, seeing me through the lockdown. All that and yet I cannot dismiss the iconic album that was his debut: ‘Hozier’ (self-titled) (2014).

Hozier’s first album opens with multi-award-winning hit, ‘Take Me To Church’. Originally released as a single in 2013, this timeless anthem continues to be a heaven-sent song for those hell-bent against the institution. Hozier writes against the control of the Catholic Church and the abuse of the word of God against the people, but is applicable to anyone raging against the machine. In a recent interview, Hozier speaks about the Iranian vlogger and activist Sarina Esmailzadeh, whose video singing along to ‘Take Me To Church’ went viral after she was beaten to death by Iranian security forces. Speaking about Sarina, he says:

“You have somebody who has far more courage and far more bravery than I will ever have…Somebody who paid an ultimate price - I come up very short against courage like that.”

I found his honesty and humility refreshing in a world that seems so full of arrogance and self-importance. Unsurprisingly, ‘Take Me To Church’ is not his only song fuelled by such political and passionate fire. As an Irish musician, Hozier often laments the colonisation of Ireland and its continued impacts on the country today, which he has written of in songs such as ‘Foreigner’s God’, ‘Eat Your Young’, and ‘Butchered Tongue’. Fuelled by the worldwide turmoil of 2019, he wrote and performed ‘Jackboot Jump’ whilst on tour, as well as an unreleased song, ‘But The Wages’, only heard live during that tour. Before performing the song one night, he says

“If you’re not making the right people uncomfortable, you might be wasting your time as a musician.”

However, these anthems don’t make up all of Hozier’s discography. His love songs rival Shakespeare’s sonnets, but not all of them are as sweet as they seem. Whilst there are some incredible love songs in his portfolio, such as ‘Francesca’ and ‘Wasteland, Baby!’, there are many that have much darker meanings than might first be apparent. The most notorious of these is ‘Cherry Wine’, from his debut album. The gentle music and softly spoken notes lull the listener into a false sense of security, yet, as indicated by its haunting music video and dark lyrics, the song tells the tale of an abusive relationship. A more recent and equally poignant example is ‘First Time’, from his latest album. The song ends bittersweetly with the words:

“Some part of me must have died / The final time you called me ‘baby’ / But some part of me came alive / The final time you called me ‘baby’.”

If that wasn’t heartbreaking enough, I recommend you listen to the whole song, but make sure that mascara is tear-proof.

To be continued....