Hozier, who’s most popularly known for writing “Take Me To Church,” has recently released a new album titled Unreal Unearth. With him debuting 10 years ago and only having 2 albums, this is big news to enjoyers of his music.
Hozier, aka Andrew Hozier-Byrne, has been known notoriously known for having a more earthy sound in his music. His use of guitar is something especially to take note of, and many of his song lyrics use symbolism relating to things such as religion, the earth, folklore, the woods, and mythology. In his new album, Unreal Unearth, something I appreciated about the new songs was that lyrically they remained very well written and with some similar themes compared to his other music, only with a more electric feel.
While his older songs sound more acoustic, the newer ones feel more vibrant. It’s something to both like and dislike. In Hozier’s older songs, the guitar was a big focus, be it electric or acoustic, now however the guitar didn’t stick out to me in any songs in particular except for “Unknown” and the first song of the album, “De Selby.”
In the newer album, there was a lot more use of synth and base, neither of which I am too crazy about. Despite this, there are songs where I really enjoy the use of them, such as in “Francesca.”
Throughout the album, something I appreciated was how distinct all of the songs were. They all had their own original sound, which was fun and made me feel excited to hear them all individually.
In the end, I prefer Hozier’s older albums slightly more than I do Unreal Unearth, but it is a great album and I would strongly suggest giving it a listen to.
