Hozier: s/t LP
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Andrew Hozier-Byrne, known simply as Hozier, is an Irish musician from Bray, County Wicklow. The son of a musician, he began a degree in music at Trinity College Dublin, but dropped out midway through his first year in order to record demos for Universal Music. While at Trinity, he became involved with the Trinity Orchestra. He was also a member of Anúna from 2009 to 2012, and appears as a soloist on their 2012 release Illumination singing “La Chanson de Mardi Gras.”
Hozier was influenced, "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."
After issuing an introductory Take Me To Church EP in late-2013, Hozier released the 4-song Eden EP in 2014 to tide fans over while completing work on his debut full length. Recording for both EPs began in what Hozier calls "the grey, pretty boring attic" at the top of the house where he lives, before overdubs and mixing in Dublin, with producer Rob Kirwan (U2, Depeche Mode, Glasvegas, Ray Lamontagne) at the controls.
Hozier's highly anticipated self-titled debut was co-produced - once again with Rob Kirwan - and recorded at his home in Wicklow as well as Exchequer St Studio and Cauldron in Dublin. The 13-track effort is anchored by the hit single "Take Me To Church" and well received follow-ups "Sedated" and "From Eden."