One Liner: Massively popular Irish blues rock with "Take Me To Church" and "Too Sweet"
Wikipedia Genre: Indie rock, soul, blues, folk, R&B, blues rock
Home: Ireland
Poster Position: Headliner!
Both Weekends.
Friday.
Thoughts: He was last here in 2023, and as far as I can tell, no new music since then. Oh, no, wait, that is not true. After his 2023 album, he released the Unheard EP that features his second-biggest streamer overall that has taken my household by storm. Very good song, but we will get to that later.
This guy confounds me a little bit. I really liked his first album, but I haven't paid attention to him much since then. And yet when he was named as a Headliner (!?!?!) for 2023's Fest, I heard multiple people straight freaking out that he would be here. My niece-in-law (is that a thing? The lady married to my nephew.) said that she is dying for a Hozier tattoo. I heard more than one person say they were more excited about Hozier than anything else on the 2023 poster. Which is, huh?
Now, don't get me wrong, I loved that 2014 self-titled album. I've professed my love for it repeatedly on this blog. In my preview for his eventually cancelled 2014 ACL show. In my top ten for the 2015 Fest. In a short review of his album. In my top albums of 2014 post. In my review before he came to ACL in 2015. This disc is full of very great music. That first disc went 6 times platinum in Ireland and 5 times here in the States. It was a major album that any artist would kill for in this age. It also came out eleven years ago though!
Jacked up video though...
You might recall that he was scheduled to come to ACL in 2014, but called in sick or something and we missed out. Which bloooooowwwwws. Then he came back the next year and was very good. The portions that I didn't like in 2015 were his cover tunes, so hopefully now that he has a few discs out there he'll shy away from dumb Ariana Grande songs. But, if "Take Me to Church" is all you know from this guy, then by all means, keep listening. He's good.
I heard a cover version of "Work Song" the other day, and it reminded me how damn pretty that one is. Also from that debut album. 786.1 million streams.
Beauty. The excellent "Someone New" has 675.9 million streams, and the similarly nice "Cherry Wine" boasts 558.3 million streams. These are big hits. But my favorite from all of them is "Jackie and Wilson." 345.1.
Hells yeah. It is honestly hard to believe this dude is from Ireland. Great tune. I still listen to that one today.
After that original disc, he released a four song EP, called "Nina Cried Power," in 2018. The first track, featuring Mavis Staples, is a power blues rocker about stepping up in the face of oppression, that gives shouts to everyone from James Brown to John Lennon for fighting the power. The second tune is a dark, slow, burning warning to those who might mess with his baby called "NFWMB." I like that one a lot. Third song is a more traditional blues rock stomper, "Moment's Silence (Common Tongue)," that sounds like Hozier's prior songs. "Shrike," the fourth and final tune, has that lilting Irish guitar sound that he uses to great effect on the first album, which adds some cool depth to an otherwise relaxed ballad.
Aside - what is a "shrike?" "a songbird with a strong sharply hooked bill, often impaling its prey of small birds, lizards, and insects on thorns." Criminy. I need to go listen more closely to those lyrics, is this a song about Bird the Impaler? Yep, the chorus says that he wants to be reborn as "the shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn." So, in his next life, he wants to be the killer that uses her thorn to store his murdered prey? Or he's going to stab her in the stabber? I'm more confused now that when I started.
Aside - what is a "shrike?" "a songbird with a strong sharply hooked bill, often impaling its prey of small birds, lizards, and insects on thorns." Criminy. I need to go listen more closely to those lyrics, is this a song about Bird the Impaler? Yep, the chorus says that he wants to be reborn as "the shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn." So, in his next life, he wants to be the killer that uses her thorn to store his murdered prey? Or he's going to stab her in the stabber? I'm more confused now that when I started.
After that, he came out with 2019's Wasteland, Baby! It does not appear that I ever reviewed it - this is what I mean, he just kind of fell off the map after his big debut album. I say that, and yet it is a really good disc. I've just run through it several times and it is lovely music. Why did I start ignoring this cat? The hit was "Almost (Sweet Music)," with 536 million streams.
oooh, super wide angle video! So cinematic! Lovely little tune - his voice is really singular. Hard to believe he's an Irish dude when he sounds like a soulful throwback singer from some 50's rock band. Speaking of which, who is this dude? I've talked a lot about his tunes but not about him.
Andrew John Hozier-Byrne was raised in County Wicklow, Ireland, which is on the eastern shore of the island and is named after the Old Norse for Vikings' Meadow. Badass. Also, sounds like a beautiful place - known as the "Garden of Ireland." Born in 1990 to a blues drummer and an artist, he was a class clown and that school was a monotonous nightmare. He taught himself guitar and sang in his school choir as a teenager and then studied music education at Trinity College Dublin. At Trinity he sang in a choral ensemble, touring internationally. But after that time, he wrote "Take Me To Church" in 2013 during a period when he was playing open mics and trying to get noticed. The tune went viral and scored many multi-platinum designations, leading to his first album by 2014. He has stated that his dad's love of blues helped inform his musical education - John Lee Hooker, Otis Redding, Nina Simone - and you can hear that in his bluesy rock.
Finally, 2023's Unreal Unearth. There are multiple versions of this album now, all because a B-Side throwaway blew up so insanely large. But on the original album itself, where that song was culled and cut, the big hit was "Eat Your Young." I guess that has been on the radio or something, totally rings a bell. 252.2 million streams.
Cool video. Song is okay - not blowing my mind. I like the duet with Brandi Carlile on here. Also, this album is too damn long. Over an hour for a Hozier album? What do you think this is, a Drake release? But, like the 2019 album it is good stuff. Dawning on me that I really like Hozier. Who knew?
Finally, finally, he fired out a little four song EP called Unheard in 2024, and struck absolute gold. These songs came from the Unreal Unearth sessions, and were apparently inspired by Dante's Inferno. But it shows you what a terrible mistake he made by removing these songs from the album, being that "Too Sweet" rose to #1 on the Billboard Top 100, making him the fourth Irish artist to top the chart. I'll be damned if this little EP doesn't showcase some of his best stuff anyway. The first song, "Too Sweet," sounds like he joined up with the Black Keys for some southern, soulful riffage. "Wildflower and Barley," with Allison Russell, has a funky shuffle but otherwise is an ethereal little burner. "Empire" builds in a really tasty way. "Fare Well" starts out really quiet and sneaky, and then erupts into a dance party. "Too Sweet" is crushing it though - 1.5 BILLION streams! Nothing else here breaks 40 mill.
I find myself just singing "I take my whiskey neaaaaaaaaaaat" at random times now. And my girls wore this one out around the house for sure. Not sure what he means by taking his bed at three, but it's a funky little tune. Good stuff.
The other massive song that he has going for him right now is a duet with Noah Kahan that definitely is getting a ton of play. My girls jam this all the time. 468.9 million streams for "Northern Attitude."
Look at those two glowering, long-haired beauties. Very enjoyable tune.
So, I guess me and my question marks as to why this fella is considered a headliner can just check myself. Two songs with more than a billion streams. Many more with hundreds of millions. Also, this freaking outrageous beauty that my middle kid played for me a little while back and is going to make me tear up all over again. "Do I Wanna Know" cover on BBC, live.
Crush that up and pour it directly into my earholes. This dude is amazing, and he is rock and roll, and he means that I will probably miss out on Luke Combs, Cage the Elephant, and Empire of the Sun.
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