By Alyssa Serrano
Staff Writer
Hozier’s new album “Unreal Unearth” is phenomenal, filled to the brim with beautiful songs and even more beautiful lyrics.
“Unreal Unearth” is a 17-song album written by Hozier, an Irish singer and songwriter, who is known for using religion and literature to make profound declarations in his music. This album was released on Friday, Aug. 18.
One thing I love about this album is how different the songs are from one another. Throughout the album, Hozier weaves different styles together seamlessly to create the musical masterpiece that is this album.
The album opens with “De Selby (Part 1),” which is soft and slow but then transitions right into “De Selby (Part 2),” which draws inspiration from funk music. Despite the two songs fitting into different genres of music, the transition between the two is seamless; if I hadn’t been paying attention to the song titles, I probably would have just assumed it was one long song. “De Selby (Part 2)” is probably my favorite track of the album. The backtrack and the way it pairs with his voice is so satisfying and makes this such a fun song to listen to.
Other songs I enjoyed from this album were “First Time,” “I Carrion (Icarian),” “Eat Your Young” and “First Light.” Despite being very different styles, I loved both his voice and the lyrics of these songs. In “First Time” in particular, Hozier described what it might be like for a flower as it is ripped out of the ground. It’s such a heartbreaking lyric to imagine being ripped away from life so easily, and it connects the album back to its name and the Earth so nicely.
“I Carrion (Icarian)” references the story of Icarus flying too close to the sun. However, in the song, Hozier focuses on the idea that Icarus was so filled with jubilation and exhilaration from flying that he hadn’t even realized that he died. In Hozier’s rendition, Icarus has one thing that keeps him grounded, one thing he wouldn’t lose in his flight. The song has a folk song kind of sound — listening to it feels like listening to a story by a campfire.
“Eat Your Young” has a sound that feels more like a mix of rock, indie and alternative music. This song is about how human desires and greed have led to taking too much from the Earth and other people, which results in suffering for future generations. This song is about gluttony and lust, and it’s a big switch in mood from “I Carrion (Icarian),” which comes before it in the song.
“First Light” is about love and how it can transform a person’s life. It has a very romantic and dreamy vibe to it. This song signals the end of the journey Hozier has taken the listener on, and it leaves the album on a more hopeful note. The song talks about how love for a single person or thing can change your perspective on anything and everything, and how even when there is darkness, it can be overcome with resilience and dedication. This song is really just a lovely way to end the album, and it wraps up his story really well.
This is a no-skip album; every song not only adds to the storyline Hozier crafted, but they all have beautiful backing tracks and breathtaking vocals. I have tried, and failed, to come up with a song I disliked on this album, as every song on this album is both individually very strong and also blends together really nicely.
