As always, Hozier delivers soul, profound concepts, and a bit of the craic.
Hozier is a once-in-a-generation artist. He gives us mythology wrapped in blasphemy. Sociopolitical commentary mingled with lust and ire. According to Hozier socials, this EP was meant to reflect two circles of Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, and let me tell you have so little time to give you any interpretation has been my own pride circle. Hozier never gives us anything easy. This short EP was meant to represent the gluttony and heresy circles in Dante’s tale, and I will do my best to give you one humble person’s interpretation of this teaser for the upcoming full-length release Unreal Unearth.
Opening with “Eat Your Young”: At first glance, this track sounds like a welding of gluttony and lust. But when you consider the time of Dante, this track could infer heavy political commentary. Hozier loves to leave his lyrics’ meanings up to the listener. I think that Eat Your Young‘s is gluttonous-not on food, booze, or conquests, but the gluttony of capitalism. How capitalism feeds and thrives on the younger generations. A cannibalistic economic structure.
All things End: Heresy in Dante’s time is defined as denying the soul’s immortality. If one has read Inferno, Virgil asserts an idea as they venture toward the end of the sixth circle for heretics, and that is: there are only two legitimate sources of wealth. One is natural resources and the other is the soul of humanity- be it their labor or art. Here Hozier-on the surface- may be positing that heresy is regret and denying one’s own expression. Our Irish Bard loves to keep us wondering and learning.
Hozier had said that “Through Me” was a product of the pandemic. In the first verse, Hozier speaks on love completely beyond our control. In this, we share inevitable messiness. In the second verse, grief is presented as only Hozier can. We have all lost loved ones during this pandemic. Again, we share in this individually and collectively. Love and grief-we have no control over the more you try to assert control over either, the more they can burn you up. Here at KMC, we know that love and grief are present in their own time and hold unique paths through them. Hozier loves the congruency between seemingly disparate concepts and I invite you to interpret this last track with hope, compassion, and maybe a bit of acquiescence to the tides of life.
Hozier’s new EP evolved from his staple 12 Bar blues into a masterful amalgam with the early 1960s era of Rhythm & Blues. His mastery of blues scales and modes embraced by his clever and cryptic lyrics dance across this EP. We get the much-beloved nuance and delicate musical layering from the amazing musicians that comprise Andrew Hozier-Byrne’s ensemble. His band is filled with exceedingly talented musicians that double as the soaring and soulful choir. This small group manages to create a sound that feels like you’re hearing the choir at Trinity College or Westminster Abbey. I’m beyond excited-my appetite whetted for the release of Hozier’s take on the remaining Circles of Inferno with Unreal Unearth(release TBA).
