Hozier's eponymous album is an unexpected pleasure, and it gets better with every listen
(well, so far). Robin chose this album
for us to review this week on the strength of the single playing everywhere. “Take Me to Church” sounds like Elton John at
his best, and that’s enough to hook Robin.
Fortunately, the whole album is packed with great lyrics, richly
textured sounds and solid rock tunes.
So far,
“Take Me to Church” is getting all the attention, with Taylor Swift tweeting
her approval to 45 million people, and a socially conscious video
that has racked up 19 million views.
It’s a great song, elevating sex to the status of a new religion. “If I’m a pagan of the good times/ My lover’s
the sunlight/to keep the Goddess on my side/she demands a sacrifice.”
There’s a tradition of Irish
artists loudly struggling with their church, but Hozier skips right past all
that tired crap to crow about his own pagan joy. Hozier’s not going to get tied down into
theological arguments or join in with the typical railing against organized
religion. Instead, he’s joyously romping
in the sack and finding his religion there.
As good as
that song is, Hozier doesn’t just replicate the sound for a dozen more
tracks. Each of the 13 songs on the
album has its own sound, distinct from the others. “The Angel of Small Death & the Codeine
Scene” offers another homage to sex in a gospel style, complete with a swelling
chorus and clapping hands.
“Jackie and
Wilson” is plain fun, with some of the best pauses since Living Colour recorded
“Love Rears Its Ugly Head”. “Work Song”
is a redemptive spiritual devoted to his baby “sweet as can be,/She’d give me
tooth aches just from kissing me.”
It’s hard
to describe a voice, but his is liquid and rich. He sounds somber and grave on “Angel of
Death” and then sunny and happy on the infectious “Someone New”. And, as mentioned in the first paragraph, he
absolutely nails an Elton John imitation in the opening track, “Take Me to
Church”.
It’s also
hard to choose a favorite track, but there are several that stand out. “From Eden” is a creepy stalker’s tale with
an unnerving cello. “I slithered here
from Eden just to sit outside your door,” proceeds to “To the strand (beach), a
picnic planned for you and me,/a rope in hand, for your other man,/To hang from
a tree.”
“Sedated” portrays
a junkie’s struggle to escape the grip of heroin, and he calls on his lover to
save him – “Darling, don’t you stand there watching, won’t you/Come and save me
from it?/Darling, don’t you join in – you’re supposed to/Drag me away from
it.” I don’t think she does, and the two
of them might be the two rotting corpses that show up in the inventive but
disturbing duet, “In a Week”.
Like me,
Robin enjoyed this album quite a bit, and she
recommends it “wholeheartedly”. She
doesn’t say it, but I know she wishes there were a little bit of that old Elton
John sound, though.
Next up: Everything Will be Alright in the End, by Weezer
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