RIYL: Ray LaMontagne, Amos Lee, Jonny Lang, Jeff Buckley
It’s rare to find songwriters who drop out of the sky as fully formed artists. For many breakthrough albums (Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black, Macklemore’s The Heist, Gotye’s Making Mirrors) there were earlier releases on which skills were being honed but ears were not being turned. And then there are artists like Lorde, Adele, and Sam Smith whose debut albums wind up making them stars overnight. Andrew Hozier-Byrne (a.k.a. Hozier) falls into the latter category. One listen to this 24 year-olds recently released self-titled debut and you’ll likely be asking yourself “Where did this guy come from?” Well, technically Ireland. (Many might say Heaven.)
Propelled by the smash hit “Take Me To Church”, Hozier debuted at Number 2 on the Billboard 200 upon its release last fall and has continued to sell strongly, earning him “It-artist” status as he sells out venues left and right. He’s soon slated to perform with Annie Lennox at the Grammy’s where “Take Me to Church” is in the running for Song of the Year.
At 17 tracks deep, the Deluxe Edition of Hozier can’t help but have some slow moments but on the whole it’s a solid set of songs that showcases Hozier-Byrnes impressive guitar playing, soulful vocals and sharply descriptive lyrics. It’s an album of love songs but Hozier’s strong opinions about religion add extra layers to numerous tracks as he explores ideas of lust, sin, innocence and death.
While “Take Me To Church” has inevitably led to cries of “one-hit wonder”, early tracks like “Someone New” and “From Eden” show that Hozier has no problems crafting radio-friendly melodies with catchy choruses. He does it his own way however, stocking the incredibly addicting chorus of “From Eden” with weighty lyrics like “Honey, you’re familiar/ like my mirror years ago/ idealism sits in prison/ chivalry fell on its sword.”
Hozier is clearly a man of many moods, opting for straight-up swampy blues on “To Be Alone”, pretty finger-picked folk balladry on “Cherry Wine” and dark distorted yearning on “In the Woods Somewhere”. With his gutsy, thought-provoking lyrics and visceral talent, Hozier is more than just a breath of fresh air in today’s popular music landscape, he’s a veritable wind storm.
