If you’ve felt like the sun is shining a bit brighter, the trees are growing even greener, and the air is filled with the earthly scent of the forest, then you must have your senses tuned perfectly for Andrew Hozier-Byrne’s eclectic music. Aug. 16 brought Hozier’s eighth EP release and second extension from his latest album, Unreal Unearth, which celebrated its one-year anniversary just two days later. This EP, titled Unaired, follows the previous EP Unheard. Based on titles alone, it seems Hozier is using these extensions as a way to showcase the songs not included in one of Dante’s Nine Circles of Hell that the initial record was based on. If you haven’t yet read my analysis of this record and the first EP, I recommend checking them out! I’ll be following the same style of analysis based off of my own interpretations of the music with an additional favorite line from each song.
Now, let’s jump into the first track!
“Nobody’s Soldier”
The EP starts out hot and heavy with “Nobody’s Soldier.” In classic Hozier fashion, the song speaks towards non-conformity in our society that prioritizes capitalistic motives. The music video demonizes those who benefit most from the industry (CEOs, bosses, etc,) and subsequently speaks against the patriarchy as all of these characters are played by white men. I see it as a direct response to the propaganda that tries to condition us into being “puppets,” “salesmen,” or “soldiers” for those of higher authority at the expense of our own livelihoods. It encourages people to stop drinking from the Kool-Aid, shave off the sheep wool they’ve adopted, and stand up for themselves.
“I could bring fire from the mountain
You tell me it feels a little colder”
Hozier, “Nobody’s Soldier”
The line I like most most appears in the pre-chorus. Hozier sings as if he is in a verbal battle with the authority figure trying to take control of him, “I could bring fire from the mountain/you tell me it feels a little colder.” This line emphasizes just how manipulative those who enforce capitalism can be, and is something I’m sure many who have worked beneath a controlling boss can empathize with. No matter how much work you put in, it never seems to be enough. These power and money-obsessed owners chose to gaslight their employees into giving them more and more until they are essentially a monopolized tool (and then wonder why Gen Z is so adamant about only doing the amount of work their pay justifies).
“July”
The next track, “July,” slows things down into a groovy beat that encompasses feelings of hope and potential freedom. I initially interpreted it as a love song, where the protagonist finds his life rejuvenated by his adoration for his summer lover. After learning that this is the sister song of “Wildflower and Barley” from the previous EP, however, I realized that the true rejuvenation was the hope of being released from quarantine after COVID-19. July 2021 was marked as the initial date when Ireland would release some of its restrictions brought on from the pandemic. Unfortunately due to the uprise of variants, however, these plans had to be pushed back. Where “July” has hope towards an illusional ideal, “Wildflower and Barley” has hope towards the slow process of healing.
“You can keep a dream in your mind
Only to find it’s the hope that was killing you”
Hozier, “July”
The line “you can keep a dream in your mind/only to find it’s the hope that was killing you” stood out to me most while listening. It is such a profound statement that I hadn’t really considered before since dreams and hope are typically very romanticized and idolized. The idea that they could hurt you felt almost like an oxymoron, however Hozier does have a point. Sometimes it is best to refrain from prompting an unrealistic dream in someone’s mind, as this could lead to “false hope.” These high exceptions then make the truth of reality hurt worse than they originally would have.
“That You Are”
The last song on the EP, “That You Are,” easily became my favorite as soon as I heard its angelic acoustic guitar and soulful lyrics. It made me feel melancholic and almost zombie-like, as if my body was missing something it was reliant on to truly live. The song tells a story of a love lost, leaving the protagonist a lonely worshipper of a lover they will never have again. It’s the Hozier version of a break-up song, where love is utter devotion and pain is the deepest depressive pit one could endure. Yet with all of these extreme emotions dancing in the lyrics, Hozier still manages to capture the numbed feeling the end of a serious relationship can bring. This piece, in my eyes, is truly a work of art.
“The city locked into the song of prayer
That finds no melody”
Hozier, Bedouine, “That You Are”
The lyric that stuck with me most was “the city locked into the song of prayer/that finds no melody.” The imagery of an entire city being locked into something already shows how extreme the feelings Hozier is wishing to express in this song are. This extremity is immediately contradicted with the song of no melody. The protagonist in this song is absolutely lost in prayers and wishes to be with his lover once again, but they are all only empty words spoken by a person too broken to say anything with true hope and passion. There is so much to unpack in this one little line, which is precisely why it’s my favorite.
And there we have another Hozier album analysis down in the books! Time to (not so) patiently wait for the next to be released!