Hozier

Newcomer, HOZIER, received one of the most uproarious responses from media and fans alike following the announcement of his appearance at Byron Bay’s iconic Bluesfest for this coming Easter. Chugg Entertainment and Bluesfest Touring can now confirm he will also be playing two headline shows in Sydney and Melbourne.

The Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who goes by the name Hozier, will perform with his band at Melbourne’s Corner Hotel on Saturday 28th March and the Metro Theatre in Sydney on Monday 30th March.

2013 saw the release of Hozier’s debut EP Take Me To Church, featuring the breakthrough single of the same name, which gained considerable viral popularity with its haunting vocal performance as well as its powerful music video, which depicted the violence against Russia’s LGBT community. The commanding single has thus far accrued over 92 million views on YouTube, hitting #1 on Hype Machine as well as Billboard’s Top New Artist Heatseekers Chart. The track has also been nominated in the distinguished Song Of The Year category at the 2015 Grammy Awards, alongside Sam Smith, Taylor Swift and Sia, which will be awarded on Sunday 8th February from Los Angeles.

He’s drawn praise from NPR, New York Magazine, KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic, MTV Buzzworthy, Consequence of Sound, and more. He was featured on NPR’s All Things Considered and Tiny Desk Concert and his invigorating performances of his single Take Me To Church on The Late Show With David Letterman and The Ellen DeGeneres Show engaged a growing audience.

Since then, with a second EP From Eden and the 2014 release of his debut self-titled LP, tastemakers and critics have wholeheartedly embraced his spirited and soulful sound. Locally, the album has hit #3 on the iTunes Chart and #5 on the ARIA charts. Take Me To Church is now certified double platinum, reaching #2 on the ARIA singles charts, #1 on the iTunes chart, and at present is the #1 most played track in the country across all major commercial radio networks.

The 24-year-old Wicklow, Ireland native weaves a powerful tapestry with his music. The vividness of his imagery speaks of a soul in thrall to, and beset by, intense and sometimes ungovernable emotions. Raised in a musical family, and briefly a student of music at Trinity College Dublin (before his compulsion to write songs and share them with the world won the day over his studies), 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, and then I discovered jazz, but more importantly, Delta blues – that extraordinarily haunting sound, Skip James, Blind Willie Johnson, people like that. Later, it was Pink Floyd, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, plus Tom Waits was a huge, huge influence. I was always drawn to singers with something haunting about their voices. The same goes for writers such as James Joyce and Oscar Wilde. You can’t define what it is, but it buries itself deep in your soul.”

Not surprisingly, lyrics matter hugely to Hozier. “For me, they are one of, if not the most, important factors in a song. That’s where the story is, and where the writer is, or should be. Lyrics are still the thing I take the longest over in my own songs, and work the hardest at – and care the most about. And also the thing I feel the most self-conscious about; you know, ‘Am I saying something worthwhile here?’”

When those lyrics are set to music that balances burning indignation with lilting tenderness, and delivered in a voice imbued with the spiritual passion and yearning of gospel and the blues, you figure you’ve chanced upon something pretty special. This performance is one not to be missed.

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