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Album Review:<br />
“Unreal Unearth”<br />
by Hozier<br />
REVIEW<br />
Anjali Mariampillai<br />
Web Editor<br />
Photo: Twitter; Illustration: Unikum // Natalia Bogdanova<br />
The modern-day Shakespeare, the master of yearning, the forest<br />
prince that shows up every 5 years and blesses our lives with his<br />
heavenly voice, mister Hozier himself, is finally back! OH my god<br />
I’m excited about this one! After having released his previous<br />
album “Wasteland Baby!” in 2019 to great success, he has finally<br />
grazed us with his glorious new album “Unreal Unearth”. This is<br />
the third studio album that this man has released, and I am happier<br />
than ever. Let’s get into it!<br />
The album consists of 16 beautiful tracks that tell stories. Whenever<br />
I listen to this man’s albums I deep dive into the thought behind<br />
every word, the interviews, lyric analysis etc. And I found out that<br />
the album structure is inspired by Dante’s Inferno, more specifically,<br />
the 9 circles of hell. And you know what? I have coincidentally<br />
been reading that book this year, so I was thrilled to find out about<br />
that. This album like most of Hozier’s music explores themes<br />
like apocalypse, sin, death, life, mythology, religion, heaven, and<br />
hell. No song goes without making you feel something absolutely<br />
ethereal.<br />
The album starts with a two-parter, being “De Selby”, the first part<br />
starts with a beautiful guitar melody, building up with strings, and<br />
finally you hear his majestic voice. The song pulls you into what<br />
you can imagine as a post-apocalyptic landscape. It’s soft, soothing,<br />
and haunting in a way. The song builds up to a choir and finishes<br />
beautifully into a transition to part two. And that transition is<br />
so satisfying! One thing to note already in the first song and<br />
throughout the remainder of the album is that Hozier sings some<br />
phrases in Irish Gaeilge, which is one of the Celtic languages spoken<br />
in Ireland – where Hozier is from. It is really great to witness him<br />
embracing his heritage in that way, and it really shows in the song<br />
“Butchered Tongue” later in the album, where he addresses a part<br />
of Irish history where the English inflicted several brutal actions<br />
upon Irish rebels. The Gaeilge phrases in the songs really makes<br />
it all feel very raw and authentic, which is not unlike Hozier at all.<br />
As mentioned, the album structure is loosely based on Dante’s<br />
Inferno and the 9 circles of hell. If you’re not familiar with this, it is<br />
a story about Dante being guided through the 9 circles of hell as he<br />
tries to find back to his deceased love. What’s fun about it all is that<br />
you can place all the songs in the circles. For an example, the song<br />
“Eat Your Young” can be tied to the third circle, which is Gluttony.<br />
The song “Francesca” can be correlated with the second circle<br />
which is Lust. This all makes sense if you’re interested in Dante’s<br />
Inferno, and as a writer this was very fun to analyse and get into.<br />
An absolute favourite song of mine from this album is “Son of Nyx”,<br />
which is actually an instrumental track. I could write a lot about<br />
it, but let’s just say that listening to it literally made me feel like I<br />
was the one traveling through all the circles of hell. It’s absolutely<br />
terrifying, exciting and an absolute masterpiece. I digress, but if<br />
you’re somewhat poetic, I’d recommend sitting down with the<br />
lyrics to all of these songs. There are some truly gorgeous lines to<br />
cry to, I promise. He could mask the death of the world in a cheery<br />
love song, and I think that’s absolutely magical.<br />
I could talk about how Hozier has changed my brain chemistry<br />
for hours, but I’ll try to shorten this down. The vibe of this whole<br />
album can only be described as dark, comforting, ethereal and soul<br />
cleansing. The use of heavy choir, strings, and haunting vocals in<br />
general, really reminds me of the “Take me to Church” Hozier from<br />
2013, and I love it. The album is perfect for the fall, it gives warm<br />
and cheery vibes, as well as dark and depressing for those of us<br />
who thrive on that (aka me). I’ve listened to this album for multiple<br />
days in a row and I can’t get tired of it. Hozier’s voice, lyrics and<br />
thought process behind it all will always bring me some sort of<br />
comfort. I can’t say that this album is my favourite out of all three<br />
albums, but it’s definitely a masterpiece of its own.<br />
Favourite tracks to cry myself to sleep to:<br />
“Son of Nyx”<br />
“First light” (which is an absolute banger<br />
of an ending to the whole album)<br />
Favourite soul-crushing lyrics:<br />
“Eat Your Young<br />
“De Selby (Part 2)<br />
“Unknown/Nth”<br />
“You called me angel for the first time, my heart leapt from me.<br />
You smile now, I can see its pieces still stuck in your teeth.”<br />
“If I could hold you for a minute, darling I’d go through it again.”<br />
“If the wind turns, if I hit a squall, allow the<br />
ground to find its brutal way to me.”<br />
“I have never known a silence, like the one fallen here.<br />
Never watch my future darken in a single tear.”<br />
<strong>SEPTEMBER</strong> 2023 <strong>UNIKUM</strong> NR 7 33