Hozier 10th anniversary reissue: Celebrating the album that changed it all for the Co. Wicklow musician

Christmas has come early for Hozier fans – with the 10th birthday reissue of his self-titled debut, released on May 16.

“It feels surreal to celebrate the anniversary of the album that changed my life,” Andrew reflects. “I’m forever grateful to everyone who has been listening since the beginning.”

Along with the thirteen songs which originally made us fall in love with Mr. Hozier-Byrne, four bonus tracks – ‘In The Woods Somewhere’, ‘Run’, ‘Arsonist’s Lullaby’ and ‘My Love Will Never Die’ – will be available on vinyl for the first time courtesy of the Baby Blue and Custard coloured 12” exclusives available from store.hozier.com.

Hozier (10th Anniversary) Baby Blue 2LP

Casting an expert ear on the quartet, Hot Press’ Caroline Kelly says: “Continuing Hozier’s taut thread of gospel-imbued textures, the songs beget an overarching bent towards hope and overcoming darkness.

“Taking a page from Dante, ‘In The Woods Somewhere’ situates the listener in the darkened depths of a forest, following the siren call of his beloved: ‘A woman’s voice, I quickly ran / Into the trees with empty hands’. Six-string flickers drip in soft harmony with Hozier’s lamenting falsetto. At the title’s refrain, the quietude slides into a bluesy shuffle that builds before edging off.

“‘Run’ takes a similar approach, with the Wicklow crooner pulling at the top of his vocal range over a thrill-pushing riff. Tracing the boyish fantasy of Joyce’s Portrait, the track addresses Ireland as a woman, learning about its mythic intimacies as he would a lover.

“‘Arsonist’s Lullaby’ is a woozy, bespangled track that seems to zoom out while dollying in, reflecting on the arc of self-acceptance from youth to adulthood. The chorus especially offers an anthem for tortured souls: ‘All you have is your fire / And the place you need to reach / Don’t you ever tame your demons / But always keep them on a leash’.

“Floating atop the throbbing plucks of 'My Love Will Never Die' is Hozier's incomparable, soul-wrenching voice, coaxed from the depths of the singer’s viscera. In the background, flourishes of bird calls fill the negative space, fermenting an off-the-cuff, untamed beauty that nestles at the very heart of Hozier’s brilliance.”

Also see store.hozier.com for details of the very fetching cassette version of the original album and some seriously snazzy 10th anniversary merch and bundles.

Introducing his Hozier album to Hot Press readers back in the day, the Bray superstar-in-the-making told us that, “There’s a lot of sex and death on it. I’m looking at death in different ways. In blues and Gospel, there are themes that bleed into the music. I’m not a very religious person – but the way Gospel music looks at death and spirituality and God is very beautiful.

“Death is something that I would have thought about as a quite macabre child. And even with some Irish writers and stuff, Seamus Heaney and the like, there’s a lot about the land on it and just decaying. I spent a few years thinking about what it is to die, what it is to return to the land and return to the earth.”

As for the monster hit that trailed it, Andrew noted that: “A lot of the time, when you’re writing songs, something gets lost on the way or just isn’t articulated properly. With ‘Take Me To Church’, I feel like I articulated everything. That’s why I am proud of it.”

Also to be found on hotpress.com is our original review of the Hozier album, which proclaimed that: “Some talents are simply indisputable, whatever your musical tastes. Count Hozier’s among them. This is the most dud-free Irish debut since Villagers’ Becoming A Jackal. Which is really saying something...

“Both musically and lyrically, steeped in classically influenced but contemporary sounding blues, rock and folk, this collection couldn’t be more confident or well-crafted.”

Which, it has to be said, hit the bullseye!

Hozier (10th Anniversary) is available on LP, cassette and CD here.