Hozier - Hozier [VINYL]

Andrew Hozier-Byrne, a County Wicklow singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who goes by the name of Hozier, and whose way with words is a blessing (for us) as much as his susceptibility to romance, and romantic dreaming, sounds like a curse (for him). Raised in a musical family, Hozier’s childhood and adolescent listening was dominated, he says, by his father’s record collection but particularly “by Chicago blues, Texan blues, Chess Records, Motown, jazz, but more importantly, Delta blues – that extraordinarily haunting sound of Skip James and Blind Willie Johnson. Later, it was Pink Floyd, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, plus Tom Waits was a huge, huge influence. His debut EP, Take Me to Church reached No 1 on the Irish iTunes chart and the title track No 2 in the official singles charts. Elsewhere on the EP, he looked back on his first, crushing love affair, detailing it both as nostalgic chronicler and as if he was still within the relationship. Hozier released his 2nd EP 'Form Eden' in Arpil 2014. Recording for both EPs began in what Hozier calls “the grey, pretty boring attic” at the top of the house where he lives, before overdubs and mixing in Dublin, the producer Rob Kirwan (U2, Depeche Mode, Glasvegas, Ray Lamontagne) at the controls. Take Me To Church has already accumulated more than 11 million Spotify streams globally. However, it looks like this is just the beginning. His US tour this October is sold out, this single has been iTunes Top 15 there and the album preorder has sat comfortably inside the main iTunes Top 50 since it was announced. Next in the UK comes his date at London's Koko on September 17 (also sold out) and gigs in Europe, where radio stations are reportedly playing the track on unprecedented levels of rotation. It’s a song that’s bold, authentic and above all, wonderfully memorable. All in all, Hozier is one of those rare artists you can truly believe in. Watch out people, there's a new superstar in town.