Hozier
Malahide Castle, Co Dublin
★★★★★
Andrew Hozier Byrne finds himself at the other side of Dublin Bay from his homestead of Wicklow on a Dublin evening that is somehow both sticky and fresh, at Malahide Castle.
The walk in, through the beautiful tree-lined laneways of these grounds, offers a setting that feels utterly appropriate for an artist who has become for many fans synonymous with both the mulch and verdancy of a forest. And what a crowd, crossing generations, genders, tastes, all converging for one man, his excellent band, and these songs.
Opening with Eat Your Young, followed by Jackie and Wilson, the grey sky surrounding the arena – where about 20,000 people have gathered – could almost be an autumnal shade conjured for the occasion. Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene is an early highlight. There’s a shout out to Jack Conan, and the other Irish rugby players in the crowd.
But when Francesca lands, a song from his upcoming new album, Unreal Unearth, it rises in a way that signposts towards the epic. It might be, low key, one of the best songs Hozier has written, or rather co-written, with Jennifer Decilveo.
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It becomes apparent that Hozier is beginning again, an idiosyncratic artist who spans genres, a man with a penchant for blues, epic poetry, intellectual astuteness and an endless capacity to hunt and trap melody.
His voice is astonishingly pristine. There are of course certain things that separate really good artists from great ones. And one of those is the undeniable nature of how the talent they put on record can be transmitted live. In Hozier’s case, this is done to a level so elevated, the nuance of it can be taken for granted. Hozier has also developed the kind of capacity to move the emotion of a crowd by pulling moments of intimacy, such as on Cherry Wine, while equally comfortable urging call and response.
This is the largest ticketed headline solo show he’s done in his career. His capacity to take control of the moment, almost casually, belies an excellence that feels authentically humble, but utterly self-assured.
As the evening slips towards 10pm, and the grey sky breaks with patches of light making more visible the planes arriving into the place Hozier calls home, Someone New pops up beautifully at midsummer dusk.
Although rarely without a guitar, it’s confusing how Hozier’s playing is rarely foregrounded as a primary talent. That voice, of course, has a way of overwhelming or perhaps diverting from everything else he can do, and yet he’s probably one of the best guitarists Ireland has ever produced.
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As Take Me To Church takes hold, the crowd unites. Allison Russell arrives for a blistering encore of Nina Cried Power. Hozier marks the final day of Pride month with a recognition of same. Work Song soars off, into the clouds, into the trodden grass, and into the hollering voices of lovers converged for a man who speaks to so many, and sings for all.
