Hozier is the debutstudio album by Irish musicianHozier. It was released on 19 September 2014 byIsland Records andRubyworks Records. Before the album's release, he attracted attention from his 2013 and 2014 EPsTake Me to Church (2013) andFrom Eden (2014), which contained songs that were later included on the album. Hozier collaborated with producerRob Kirwan during its recording.Hozier has been described as ablues,soul andindie rock album with elements ofgospel,R&B andfolk music.
Hozier received positive reviews frommusic critics, many of whom praised Hozier's songwriting and vocal performance. The record was also commercially successful, reaching top ten positions in several countries, including Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden. Five of the album'ssingles—"Take Me to Church", "From Eden", "Sedated", "Work Song", and "Someone New"—charted in the top-50 of theIrish Singles Chart. The album'slead single, "Take Me to Church", was a huge success worldwide and also earned a nomination forSong of the Year at the57th Annual Grammy Awards in 2015. Following the release of the record, "Jackie and Wilson" and "Cherry Wine" were released as the album's sixth and seventh singles, respectively.
Hozier began writing songs at the age of 15.[1] He taught himself guitar and sang in his school choir.[2] He later studied music education atTrinity College Dublin but was refused a year's deferral by the college after missing exams to record demos for a music label.[3][4] While at Trinity, Hozier became involved with the Trinity Orchestra. He was a member of the choral ensembleAnúna from 2007 to 2012 and appears as a soloist on their 2014 releaseIlluminations singing "La Chanson de Mardi Gras".[5] He toured and sang with the group internationally including performances in Norway and the Netherlands.[6] Hozier played atOxegen Festival in2009[7] and2010.[8] In 2011, he opened up for a performance forAlex Winston inDublin.[9] In 2012, Hozier appeared as a backup singer forBilly Ocean.[10]
Hozier began writing the album after ending his first relationship, saying it forced him to "reflect" upon what being in love meant, having reasons to "distract" himself and "cultivate his ideas" before "turn(ing) them into music".[11] Hozier has stated that there are "a lot of recurring themes" in the album dealing with "personal liberations - finding yourself, accepting yourself, and making sense of yourself" in trying to be honest about "the more wonderful and awful things of your day-to-day".[12] He describes his initial efforts as "angsty, lonely songwriting that teenagers do".[11] He wrote "Take Me to Church" in his parents' living room and recorded the song in a "makeshift attic studio" inWicklow, collaborating with producerRob Kirwan.[11][13] At a live performance in Boston, Hozier explained that "Cherry Wine" was recorded at five in the morning in an old, abandoned hotel with a caved-in roof and walls covered in graffiti.[14] The cover artwork is a painting made by Hozier's mother Raine Hozier-Byrne, who also did the artworks of the album's singles.[15]
Hozier is ablues,[16]soul[16] andindie rock record,[17] featuring elements ofgospel,R&B andfolk.[18] The album contains an "Americana-rock blend with oily guitar riffs, crashing high-hats, angelic choruses and sung-spoken verses...", characterized by subtle guitar,[19] strong percussion,[20] dark instrumentals,[20] whimsical strings,[21] "soulful" and raw vocals[20] and "haunting" melodies".[16][19][22] The standard edition ofHozier is just under an hour long, consisting of thirteen tracks, while the deluxe edition adds four bonus songs to the record.[23] The album was solely written by Hozier, except "Someone New", which was co-written with his former girlfriendSallay-Matu Garnett. The album was produced by Hozier andRob Kirwan.[24]
Hozier opens with "Take Me to Church", a gospel-inflected mid-tempo blues song with "sweeping orchestral choruses" showcasing the artist's vocal range ascribingreligious terminology to the nuances of a romantic relationship.[25][26] "Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene" is a blues and indie-rock track, containing guitar riffs, clapping hands, and church organs with a half-time beat, describing a "temptress" in "stained-glass colors", lamenting the unavoidable "curse of being young in love".[27] "Jackie and Wilson" is a bluesy, laid-back soulfulrockabilly track, backed by an "angelic choir ofharmonies, a tribute to American singerJackie Wilson.[21] It features "tongue-in-cheek" lyrics musing about a couple "naming their children Jackie and Wilson" while "rais[ing] them on rhythm and blues."[28] "Someone New" is apop-like whimsical spring-stepped indie-rock song with strong strings, apizzicato bass and choral harmonies, discussing a wandering celebration of "renewed love" in the face of strangers.[16] "To Be Alone" is melancholy blues song containing a simplistic drumbeat guitar licks and church organs, depicting the "euphoric" attraction of solitude with a partner.[27]
"In a Week" is a romantic ballad telling of a couple decomposing together amidst theWicklow Mountains.
"From Eden" features aflamenco bridge, referencing thetitular garden in itsBiblical imagery and describing a journey to "find himself as much as the girl", with the narrator "slithering" to his lover's door.[19] "In a Week" is aCeltic-inspired folk duet with breathy harmonies from Karen Cowley detailingpastoral fantasy aboutdecomposing amongst the fauna of theWicklow Mountains alongside his love.[16][14] "Sedated" is a soulful[16] track with tinkling piano and gospel melodies with depicts a "warning" of personal decay within a relationship.[27] "Work Song" is agothic-spiritual love song with murmurous vocals, tambourine, and a strong melodic bass, discussing a promise of devotion beyond the grave.[22] "Like Real People Do" is an acoustic song in a "warm"[21] higher key with keening vocals, its lyrics intertwining metaphors ofinsects andnature, while pleading for his sweetheart to kiss him in affection. "It Will Come Back" is a twangy track with "devilish" strings slide guitar riffs and tambourines withdeviant notations while "Foreigner's God" has a soulful edge with loaded lyrical and religiousallegories.[25][16] "Cherry Wine" ends the album on an apologetic note with an intimate acoustic live-recording that juxtaposes the samples of chirping birds and soft guitar with the description of a tempestuous,abusive relationship.[25]
Hozier performing inWest Hollywood while promoting the album on tour of United States and Europe.
The album was available to pre-order in Europe upon its announcement with North American and Australian pre-order dates from July 2014.[29] The album was released 19 September 2014. The album was distributed byIsland Records in most of the world and byColumbia Records in the United States, Canada and Australia.
"Take Me to Church" was announced by Hozier as the lead single from the album and was released on 13 September 2013. The song peaked at #2 on theBillboard Hot 100, becoming Hozier's highest-charting single in the U.S. to date. The music video, alluding to themes ofhomophobia, was released that same month, having been created on a "shoestring budget" and filmed entirely in black-and-white.[30] The video was shared by gay English actorStephen Fry, which helped it reach the front page ofReddit and subsequently goviral.[31][3][32] "Take Me to Church" saw Hozier's rise to prominence, with the song scoring top five positions around the world and gaining multi-platinum certifications; the song also garnered critical acclaim for its lyricism and messaging.[33][30]
"From Eden" was released as the second single from the album on 9 March 2014. The song peaked at #2 on theIrish Singles Chart. "Sedated" was released as the third single from the album on 20 May 2014. The song peaked at #3 on theIrish Singles Chart. "Work Song" was released as the fourth single from the album on 16 March 2015.[34] "Someone New" was released as the fifth single from the album on 11 May 2015.[35] The song peaked at #13 on theIrish Singles Chart. "Jackie and Wilson" was released as the sixth single from the album on 29 September 2015. "Cherry Wine" was released as the seventh single from the album on 14 February 2016. The track appeared inZach Braff's movieWish I Was Here, chosen for its "heartbreaking lyrics and poetry".[36] It was later performed on theLate Late Show.[37][38]
Hozier received generally positive reviews from music critics. AtMetacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 79, based on 10 reviews.[42]
AllMusic's Timothy Monger called the album "a strong debut", praising the singer's soulful voice and the quality of the material. "Like fellow IrishmanVan Morrison did decades before, Hozier draws on the soul and R&B ofJackie Wilson and runs it through the mystery white-boy filter ofJeff Buckley, adding a touch ofBon Iver's rural indie aesthetic to mix into his own dark cocktail", he wrote.[17] Sergiusz Królak of JazzSoul.pl claimed, "Hozier (...) revealed album with emotionally strong songs," adding that "acoustic-rock-ballad tracklist makes a great whole with deep-emotional vocal and strong lyrics".[51]
Simon Harper ofClash magazine commented that "His voice, more poitín-sweetened than whiskey-soaked, caresses delicate melodies and rougher rhythms alike with confidence – it lingers compellingly in the creeping blues of 'To Be Alone', whispers prettily in the folky 'Like Real People Do', and preaches fervently in the ragged R&B of 'Jackie And Wilson'. The Irishman's storytelling is suitably fluid, relying on the realism of true romance rather than affecting any impoverished Delta designs. As a result, 'Hozier' is an authentic portrait of an artist – soulful, spiritual and seductive – and is a deeply impressive first step."[18]
Rolling Stone magazine's Jon Dolan wrote, "Blessed with a sensual singing voice and a seemingly bottomless well of lapsed-Catholic-style conflict, Hozier channels Van Morrison's Celtic R&B, Southern soul andBlack Keys-style garage blues into intimately roiling songs like 'Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene'."[48] Helen Brown ofThe Telegraph noted, "Gospel choirs hum and swell tenderly beneath the rougher edges of his riffs. They add mature, universal gravitas and often a holy ecstacy to an intense, youthful lyrical tangling of religion and romantic obsession that regularly finds him poised 'between love and abuse'," adding that "Hozier mixes his tormented blues with sunny R&B."[50]
As of March 2019, the album has sold 972,000 copies and has earned 2.6 million equivalent album units in the U.S.[61] In Hozier's home country of Ireland, the record debuted at number one with 7,300 copies sold, making it the country's fastest-selling debut album by a male artist of the 2010s.[62] It has sold 90,000 copies there.[63]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
^Byrne, Niall (23 March 2014). "He wants to be adored: The Wicklow singer Andrew Hozier-Byrne refuses to go down as a one-hit-wonder, writes Niall Byrne in Austin".Sunday Times (London). p. 22.
^abMullally, Una (12 October 2013). "Hozier's soaring voice and searing heart: From quiet beginnings, the 'Take Me to Church' singer's music, and its political nous, are growing in depth and stature".Irish Times (Dublin).
^Goodman; Kristobak, Jessica; Ryan (15 December 2014)."The 23 Best Albums of 2014".The Huffington Post.Archived from the original on 7 January 2016. Retrieved15 December 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^"Hozier".Billboard.Archived from the original on 17 November 2021. Retrieved6 January 2021.
^"Czech Albums – Top 100".ČNS IFPI.Note: On the chart page, select38.Týden 2015 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
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