Wasteland, Baby! - An analysis

Wasteland, Baby! as the optimistically nihilist sequel to Hozier’s debut A research thesis by Hoang Hiep

Contents I, Introduction .....................................................................................................................3 1. Introduction to Hozier ................................................................................................. 3 1.1. Biography ...............................................................................................................3 1.2. Musical style ..........................................................................................................4 2. Introduction to Hozier the debut album ..................................................................... 4 3. Introduction to Wasteland, Baby! ............................................................................... 6 II, Detailed analysis of Wasteland, Baby! .......................................................................... 8 1. Nina Cried Power .........................................................................................................8 2. Almost (Sweet Music) .................................................................................................. 9 3. Movement .................................................................................................................. 10 4. No Plan ....................................................................................................................... 10 5. Nobody ........................................................................................................................11 6. To Noise Making (Sing) ............................................................................................. 12 7. As It Was .................................................................................................................... 13 8. Shrike ......................................................................................................................... 14 9. Talk ............................................................................................................................. 14 10. Be .............................................................................................................................. 16 11. Dinner & Diatribes.................................................................................................... 17 12. Would That I ............................................................................................................ 18 13. Sunlight .................................................................................................................... 19 14. Wasteland, Baby! .................................................................................................... 20 III, Recommendations for Hozier and audience ..............................................................22 1. Recommendations for Hozier ....................................................................................22 1.1. A continued search for novelty ............................................................................22 1.2. A foray into concept albums ...............................................................................22 1.3. A collaboration project ........................................................................................23 2. Recommendations for audience ................................................................................24 IV, Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 26 V, List of references .......................................................................................................... 28

I, Introduction 1. Introduction to Hozier 1.1. Biography Andrew Hozier-Byrne (born 17 March 1990), known professionally by the mononym Hozier (/ˈhoʊziər/), is an Irish musician, singer and songwriter.

Hozier was born in Bray, Ireland. Hozier's father, John Byrne, is a local blues drummer whose day job was working at a bank until a surgery to help a spinal problem resulted in nerve damage severe enough to necessitate a wheelchair. His mother, Raine HozierByrne, is an artist.

Hozier and his brother, Jon, were raised in the minority Protestant Quaker faith, one that is inherently different from other branches of Christian religion due to their emphasis on individualism, equality and other progressive aspects. Hozier has been writing songs since the age of 15. Hozier attended Delgany National School and St. Gerard's School before he began studying music in Trinity College, Dublin. He dropped out midway through his first year to record demos for Universal Music.

While in Trinity, Hozier became involved with the Trinity Orchestra. He was a member of the choral ensemble Anúna from 2009 to 2012, and appears as a soloist on their 2012 release Illumination singing "La Chanson de Mardi Gras". He toured and sang with the group internationally including performances in Norway and the Netherlands.

In 2013, Hozier released the EP Take Me to Church (also containing "Like Real People Do", "Angel of Small Death & the Codeine Scene" and a live version of "Cherry Wine"), with the title track becoming his breakthrough single after it went viral on YouTube. It reached number one on iTunes on 25 October 2013. Hozier followed up Take Me to Church with the new EP From Eden (also containing "Work Song", "Arsonist's Lullabye" and a live version of "To Be Alone"), and a number of festival tour dates and television appearances in the United States. Hozier released his self-titled album, Hozier on 19 September 2014. It featured five singles, including "Take Me to Church", "Work Song", and "From Eden", which were hits on his earlier EPs. On 5 December 2014, it was announced that "Take Me to Church" was nominated at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards for Song of the Year in 2015 and he performed "Take Me to Church" with Annie Lennox at the 2015 Grammy Awards.

In June 2016, he announced a new song "Better Love". The song was part of the Legend of Tarzan soundtrack and was released with the official video.

On August 31st 2018, Hozier announced the EP Nina Cried Power to be released on September 6th, his first record since the debut album in 2014. The EP included the title track and three new songs called “NFWMB”, “Moment’s Silence (Common Tongue)”, and “Shrike”. On November 14th, Hozier released the lead single “Movement” from his second studio album. The album was later revealed to be named “Wasteland, Baby!” and would be released on March 1st, 2019. The tracklist included three previously released songs (“Nina Cried Power”, “Movement”, and “Shrike) as well as the second and third single “Almost (Sweet Music)” and “Dinner & Diatribes”.

1.2. Musical style Hozier’s music has elements of blues, folk, and rock, which was heavily inspired by his own musical teachings by his father. He has cited Nina Simone, Muddy Waters, Tom Waits, Leslie Feist, Paul Simon, John Lee Hooker, and Otis Redding as his musical inspirations.

His songwriting is partially influenced by the Irish novelist James Joyce, specifically A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. The storytelling nature of Irish folklore also played a huge part in his lyricism and musical themes. A very vocal activist on a wide range of issues including feminism, LGBTQ+ rights, and domestic abuse, Hozier not only often made allusions to these topics, but also based his songs around them. Many of his songs also possess an undercurrent of anti-establishment and anti-institution, including his breakout single “Take Me To Church”, which references religious hypocrisy. All of this can be heavily attributed to his upbringing as a Quaker, a faith that has been known to favour individual personal development and satisfaction in separation from religious devotion.

2. Introduction to Hozier the debut album Hozier is the eponymous debut studio album from Irish musician of the same name. The album was released on 19 September 2014 through Island Records and Rubyworks Records. The album contains songs from his previous released EPs Take Me to Church and From Eden. The main version consists of 13 tracks while the deluxe version includes four bonus songs. The artwork for the album was done by his mother, Raine HozierByrne.

Every track on the album was written solely by Hozier and produced by him and Rob Kirwan, with the exception of “Someone New”, which was co-written with his exgirlfriend Sallay Matu Garnett.

The majority of the album deals with themes of romanticism, while also tackling issues of hypocrisy in church, domestic abuse, rape culture. The lyrical content contains dark

undertones that are belied by the upbeat instrumentation or intimate vocal delivery, most evident in songs like “In A Week”, “Sedated”, and “Cherry Wine”.

Notably, “Take Me To Church” likens the romantic devotion to someone to the worship of a deity, simultaneously pointing out the bigotry and deceit exhibited by actual religious establishments that persecute sex and sexualities. This ideal was further portrayed in the song’s music video, which was set in Russia and showed a homosexual couple being violently assaulted by the community on account of their sexual orientation.

Meanwhile, “Cherry Wine” also writes about romantic devotion, but in the context of an abusive relationship. In the song, Hozier’s lover frequently resorts to violence, makes threats, and has affairs, while his love for her is unwavering. The video for the song switched the genders, starring Saoirse Ronan as a domestic violence victim, and premiered on Valentine's Day. Despite the anti-religion aspect of other songs, Hozier still employs uses of Christian imagery. The song “From Eden” is said to have been written from the perspective of Satan as the serpent that tempted Eve into eating the apple and getting her and Adam banned from the garden of Eden.

A few other songs like “Like Real People Do” and “In A Week” are more romantic in its nature, but laced with uneasy imagery. The former is written from the viewpoint of a corpse who got unearthed from their grave and fell in love with their gravedigger. The latter is about two lovers dying and decomposing together in an open field as a declaration of love.

Hozier received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 79, based on 10 reviews.

AllMusic's Timothy Monger called the album “a strong debut,” praising the singer's soulful voice and the quality of the material. “Like fellow Irishman Van Morrison did decades before, Hozier draws on the soul and R&B of Jackie Wilson and runs it through the mystery white-boy filter of Jeff Buckley, adding a touch of Bon Iver's rural indie aesthetic to mix into his own dark cocktail,” he wrote.

Simon Harper of Clash magazine commented that “His voice, more poitín-sweetened than whiskey-soaked, caresses delicate melodies and rougher rhythms alike with confidence – it lingers compellingly in the creeping blues of ‘To Be Alone’, whispers prettily in the folky ‘Like Real People Do’, and preaches fervently in the ragged R&B of ‘Jackie And Wilson’. The Irishman's storytelling is suitably fluid, relying on the realism of true romance rather than affecting any impoverished Delta designs. As a result,

‘Hozier’ is an authentic portrait of an artist – soulful, spiritual and seductive – and is a deeply impressive first step.”

3. Introduction to Wasteland, Baby!

Wasteland, Baby! is the second studio album by Irish musician Hozier, released on 1 March 2019 by Rubyworks Records. It is Hozier's first album since 2014. The album includes the songs "Nina Cried Power" and "Shrike" from the 2018 EP Nina Cried Power, as well as the single "Movement".

Hozier started working on the album after finishing with his tour promoting the first album. Afterwards, he took a year off, which he spent in a bungalow in Ireland. While on his time off, he wanted to get back into the same mindset he had while writing his first album. He spent the last 18 months prior to Wasteland, Baby!'s release working on it.

Inspired by a sense of dread and weariness at the world’s political climate and actual climate change, Hozier wrote the album with a sense of hope as a reaction to the impending threats against the world. The record carries a higher degree of joy, mostly focusing on love as a weapon against hopelessness. Hozier also experimented with different sounds during the production of the album, blending elements of blues and folk with reggae and pop. As a result, the album is more sonically diverse than his previous record. Most notably, songs like “To Noise Making (Sing)” and “Almost” are clear examples of his adventure into finding new sounds, with the former deriving from pop lyricism and choirs, while the latter being influenced by reggae instrumentals. Even though every track still credits him as the sole songwriter and a producer, unlike the first album, Wasteland, Baby! has three different co-producers. Newly-partnered Ariel Rechtshaid helped produce “Nobody” and “To Noise Making (Sing)”. Returning Rob Kirwan lent his hand to “As It Was”, “Shrike”, and “Dinner & Diatrbies”. Finally, Markus Dravs co-produced the remaining tracks. Hozier’s mother also made a return and directed and created the artwork for the album.

Wasteland, Baby! received generally mixed to positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 63, based on 10 reviews.

Positive reviews include AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine, who called the album "a subtle but notable shift the lends emotional gravity to a singer/songwriter who already favored weighty topics." Michael Pementel of Consequence of Sound stated "from the blend of instrumentals to the enchanting use of Hozier's voice, Wasteland, Baby! is an album that celebrates emotion and the wonder of music." Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph gave the album a perfect score, claiming Hozier to be "a talent to rival Jeff

Buckley." Tony Clayton-Lea of The Irish Times said "despite a hiccup or two, without which would have made for a five-star record – it’s a very welcome one." Elisabeth Woronzoff of PopMatters stated that Hozier needed the album "to recapture the energy created by his previous releases then further light the artist's skill and vision of his craft."

And that it "certainly delivers while edifying the artist as an impactful voice in the art and activism sphere."

Mixed reviews include The Arts Desk's Russ Coffey, who said that the album's "finer moments - and there are many - come where he balances his natural despondency with some positivity." Damien Morris of The Guardian stated "it’s a lovely sound, but the songwriting veers more towards the serviceable than the inspired." Jonathan Bernstein of The Rolling Stone claimed the album "has enough encouraging displays of maturation to feel like a transitional moment for Hozier. At its best, the album carves out a space for the singer to work out his creative tensions as he finds new ways to make his straight folk influences more accessible without losing anything along the way."

Negative reviews include The Independent's Mark Beaumont, claiming "Hozier has some pertinent points to make on an album that improves dramatically in the second half."

Sam Sodomsky of Pitchfork said "the man who took us to church tries to take us to the same church, again, 14 times, six years later." The majority of criticisms center on the album’s more radio-friendly direction, attributed to the “shallow” songwriting and popinfluenced production.

II, Detailed analysis of Wasteland, Baby!

1. Nina Cried Power Listen here The titular track from the EP Nina Cried Power serves as the opening track to this album.

A rousing, gospel-tinged song featuring the voice of Mavis Staples, “Nina Cried Power” has been described by Hozier as a “song about protest songs”, serving as a tribute to other artists who weaponized their art and music against inequality. The title and lyrics refer to the song “Sinnerman” sung by Nina Simone, a long-time musical influence on Hozier, and a famous civil rights activist as well.

Talking about the involvement of Mavis Staples, a famous rhythm and blues singer and also civil rights activist, in the song, Hozier said: “Everything that’s popular music swings off the work and the achievements and the legacy of black artistry… When writing [the title track], it was important to me to have Mavis involved. She was kind of there at the beginning of the song. Even when the song was in its embryonic state and the idea of it was forming, I wanted to credit the legacy of the artists in that song and the names were kind of popping into my head, [and] I knew it needed Mavis. I just felt incredibly fortunate and honored that she got where the song was coming from and vibed with it and was up for being a part of the song. That was a very integral part of the song for me.”

In the song, Hozier made a point of emphasizing the act of protest as a source of change for the betterment of everyone. The line “It's not the waking, it's the rising” underlines the importance of action, as opposed to theory. In a sense, it’s not enough that people are aware of the wrongness of the world and how to change it, we need to actively fight for what we want. For Hozier, protest songs are an important way to mobilize people, as can be seen by his biggest hit “Take Me to Church,” which is a critique of both homophobia in the church and oppressive institutions worldwide.

There are a total of 14 artists mentioned in the song: Nina Simone, Billie Holliday, Mavis Staples, Curtis Mayfield, Patti LaBelle, John Lennon, James Brown, B.B. King, Joni Mitchell, Pete Seeger, Marvin Gaye, Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie. The music video furthered the message of the song by featuring activists who have fought for the socio-cultural improvements of Ireland, Hozier’s home country. A list of these people can be found on Hozier's website. “Nina Cried Power” was ranked as one of the best tracks of 2018 former-President Barack Obama in his year-end list released on 28 December 2018..

In the context of the album, which is about coping with the threat of global destruction, the song serves as an optimistic reminder of past successes humankind has made in overcoming certain doom. According to Hozier, “Nina Cried Power” is about “looking at the great bonfire of the world and standing in a place of optimism and hope and solidarity”

2. Almost (Sweet Music) Listen here Released on January 16th 2019 as the second single to the album, “Almost” pays homage to some of the greatest jazz musicians that Hozier admired by referencing them and their song titles throughout the lyrics. The track was described by him as a “songwriting challenge”, cramming as many references to jazz compositions as possible, as a way to guide his younger fans to listen to these songs, and also to “take stock of all the things that could be lost from the world which are worth cherishing”.

In total, Hozier referenced at least 17 of his favorite songs in the lyrics of this track. They are as follows: “Stella by Starlight” by Frank Sinatra, “That Was My Heart” by Ella Fitzgerald, “Sweet Jazz Music” by Jelly Roll Morton, “Dancing In The Dark” by Duke Ellington, “Let’s Get Lost” by Chet Baker, “Let The Good Times Roll” by Ray Charles, “Smoke Rings” by Sam Cooke, “Paper Doll” by The Mills Brothers, “It Don’t Mean A Thing” by Louis Armstrong, “My Foolish Heart” by Bill Evans Trio, “The Very Thought Of You” by Nat King Cole, “Am I Blue” by Ray Charles, “A Love Supreme” by John Coltrane, “I Get Along Without You Very Well” by Chet Baker, “Russian Lullaby” by Ella Fitzgerald, “It’s All Alright With Me” by Ella Fitzegerald, and “Night And Day” by Ella Fitzegerald.

In a Reddit AMA, Hozier described the song to be about “about what music does to memory or does to the experience of memory and what memory does in return to the experience of music.” The lines “I’m almost me again, she’s almost you” and “I laugh like me again, she laughs like you” in the pre-chorus point to the healing effect of music on the singer’s state of mind. It can be assumed that Hozier is singing to a past relationship, which has left him devastated, about how his new lover reminds him of them in the way their music preferences are similar, and as a result, it makes him feel “almost” whole again, evidenced by the line “I got some color back, she thinks so too.”

3. Movement Listen here “Movement” is the lead single from the album Wasteland, Baby!, released on November 14th 2018 alongside its music video, which featured Sergei Polunin. The famous Ukrainian ballet dancer once performed an interpretative dance video to the song “Take Me To Church” and was also mentioned in “Movement” itself.

In the same romantic veins of “Work Song” and “Jackie & Wilson”, the third track sees Hozier admiring his lover with absolute passion, fixated on their body language. The message of the song can be interpreted sexually or emotionally, which is a trait present in the majority of this album. One of Hozier’s most iconic songwriting tendency is to place his love interest in a comparison with powerful forces, one that always ends with either the former winning or a draw. This tendency is once again on display here, with Hozier comparing his lover’s movements to those of “grey skies”, an uncontrollable and mighty natural phenomenon, “birds of paradise”, unrestrained and carefree creatures, and “an odd sight come out at night”, a mysterious and inexplicably strange sensation.

Preluding this, Hozier also contrasts his lover to famous performers, the aforementioned Sergei Polunin and the late American dancer Fred Astaire, and also to mythical figures, the Biblical prophet Jonah and the Greek Titan Atlas.

4. No Plan Listen here Certainly the most nihilist song on the record, “No Plan”, alongside “Wasteland, Baby!”, present the main crux of the album’s themes. Featuring a time signature of 4/4 and a high-energy sound driven by heavy electric guitar and bass lines, two distincts elements of disco music, the fourth track itself is already an outlier in Hozier’s discography. The cosmic-like soundscape is accompanied by the lyrics grounded in the philosophies of a number of renowned scientists, which is another major departure, this time in songwriting, for Hozier. Therefore arguably the most creative track on the album, “No Plan” marries the nostalgic disco genre with the science-based lyricism, giving off an oldschool magical yet modernistic vibe. It has also been described by Brooker T. Jones, a collaborator on the album, as a “cosmic tune”, to which Hozier finds “super cool”.

The lyrics reference a few physics phenomena and also base themselves on the scientific teachings of the physicist Lawrence M. Krauss, whose beliefs maintain that people “should rejoice at being so lucky to even have this relatively brief moment on Earth”. This

philosophy becomes the main message of the song, as Hozier urges the other person in the song to give up hope on a bright future, due to the eventual death of the universe, going so far as to name-drop Dr. Katie Mack, a famous astrophysicist who held a lecture on the Death of the Universe. The scientist, followed by Hozier on Twitter, often discussed topics relating to the fate of the universe, specifically its ending, and theories of how its inevitable death will play out. The prevailing theory is one of heat death, in which the universe constantly increases in entropy (disorder), to the point that even black holes and photons will dissolve, and that at the end there will be infinite nothingness, not even light. This is the basis for the line “As Mack explained, there will be darkness again.” Other physics phenomena in the song include the Big Bang theory and the law of conservation of energy (“When all things come from nothing and, honey, if nothing's gained?”)

Commenting on the message of the song, Hozier said: “Whatever about the end of the world, “No Plan” is just saying that that’s the least of your worries. The universe is set to end at some point. It’s even more hopeless than you think.” In the chorus, Hozier advises the other person to follow his lead and rejoice in the very moment and to adopt a similar belief system based on having no specific plan or goal. He also expresses an undying commitment to safeguarding their secrets as the world is ending, and should they request somebody to give them love, he would gladly accept the role. However, the ultimate sentiment put forth, as alluded to earlier, is his assertion of a coming, undeniable darkness. As such, they should enjoy now for all it has to offer.

5. Nobody Listen here “Nobody” is a straightforward song about falling in love with a partner’s flaws. Hozier has described it as “one of the closest things to a road song” he’s ever written. Bearing resemblance to “From Eden” in its instrumental arrangement, “Nobody” paints the subject of Hozier’s interest in a much different color. While “From Eden” sees Hozier imagining himself as a creature of great evil falling in love with a person of absolute purity that reminds him of his innate wholesomeness, the lover portrayed in “Nobody” is decidedly impure. The chorus conveys that Hozier is falling for somebody who is capable of misbehaving and definitely not “a saint”, which becomes the exact motivation for his infatuation.

In the song, Hozier weighs the satisfaction his partner gives him against that of multiple different vices, which are alcohol (“gin o’clock where I wake up”, meaning his place of accomodation thinks of morning drinking as a typical activity), extravagant beverage

(“gold by sweet fools of Abu Dhabi”, where the famous Palace Cappuccino drink is served, sprinkled with real 24 carat gold), drugs (“dodgy molly” is a reference to MDMA, an ectasy drug, and “suicide Tuesday” is the hangover effect experienced after taking MDMA), public attention (“the excitement of a thousand” could be referring to his fans seeing him perform on stage), and finally, wealth (warming one’s hands “over a burning Maserati” signifies a careless use of money, as Maserati cars are typically very expensive).

Throughout all these comparisons, Hozier’s love interest always comes out on top, even though he makes it clear that they are not perfect people.

The reasoning for his choice of lover could be contributed to despair, which are the two focal points of the album’s themes. The last lines of the song, “And on the other side, why should we deny the truth? We could have less to worry about, honey, I won't lie to you”, imply that Hozier sees inevitable death as a solid excuse for being upfront and honest about his feelings, and that imperfection is inconsequential in the face of certain doom.

6. To Noise Making (Sing) Listen here “To Noise Making (Sing)” is a simple and honest song celebrating the act of raising one’s voice, either in the literal sense of singing, or in a more figurative sense of being outspoken about one’s ideals and loves. As Hozier’s first song utilizing the anthemic and empowering effect of a choir, the sixth track becomes progressively more crowded and rowdy with a syncopated chorus rhythms, possibly as an experimental and blatant demonstration of the song’s message itself.

“To Noise Making (Sing)” samples a reading of “At The Wellhead” by poet Seamus Heaney, whom Hozier regularly retweets on Twitter. The poem, which most likely served as the inspiration for this song, portrays a blind woman navigating her life and loneliness using her singing voice, which was greatly enjoyed and encouraged by the narrator. In the same veins, on the track, Hozier sets out to embolden the person to whom he’s singing to keep up the act of singing, and maintains that as long as they are singing with heart and conviction, the noise would be beautiful nevertheless. Inbetween the poem recitation and choir singing during the last chorus, there are also sounds of children playing, most likely a representation of the joyful innocence that Hozier is trying to incite.

7. As It Was Listen here The seventh track on the album is, in Hozier’s words, “a song about returning”, and a “sibling song” to the track “It Will Come Back” on his previous record. Both are relatively simplistic guitar-driven songs, with “As It Was” possessing a softer sound, akin to “NFWMB” on the Nina Cried Power EP. While “It Will Come Back” centers around Hozier’s hopeless and damaging infatuation with another person, “As It Was” develops this relationship further by having Hozier ultimately taken in by them.

On “It Will Come Back”, Hozier pleads with his partner to stop with their short-lived seduction. The song portrays a somewhat abusive relationship, in which Hozier’s love keeps showing him kindness and charm to lure him in but not to keep him around, to which Hozier detests by comparing himself to a feral animal that can’t stop coming back for its food after having been fed even just once. By the end of the song, Hozier makes it clear that he has officially been beguiled by them and that he will keep on “howling outside [their] door” for them to take him in as their lover.

This connection between the two songs give way to a very dark undertone in “As It Was”.

On the surface, the song seems to follow the same theme as “Work Song” in that Hozier is utterly devoted to his lover, often regarding them to be more powerful and essential than God and life themselves. However, assuming the relationship in this song is the same one portrayed in “It Will Come Back”, it will be more accurate comparing this song to “Angel of Small Death & Codeine Scene”, or “Cherry Wine”, in which Hozier is tormented by his affection for an abusive partner.

“As It Was” sees Hozier making his way back to his lover after having been gone for a seemingly long time. During that period of absence, he fixated his attention on “the drugs, the light, the dark, the flame” as a distraction from his neediness for the love his partner gives. These salvations have all been referenced or become the focal points in his other songs: drugs being mentioned in “Angel of Small Death & Codeine Scene”, “Sedated”, “Nobody”; the “light” and the “dark” generally meaning good and sinful things; and the “flame” meaning love and sex, being the central theme of “Someone New”, “Jackie & Wilson”, “Foreigner’s God”, “Nobody”. Just like in “Nobody”, all these pleasures still do not compare to his lover, especially proven by the last line “And the nights were as dark as my baby, and half as beautiful too”. By the end of the song, it’s become more obvious that this relationship is somewhat abusive to him, but as shown by “It Will Come Back”, the temporary kindness that they display has effectively taken its hold on him, and like in “Cherry Wine”, he is most likely not capable of breaking free.

8. Shrike Listen here Being placed immediately behind “As It Was” with its sinister undercurrent, “Shrike” seems to imply a continuation of the storyline, placing Hozier in the aftermath of a relationship’s ending. The main idea of the song revolves around the pairing of the species of bird called shrike and the thorns. As a hunting habit, a shrike, a native bird to North America, tends to impale its preys on sharp thorns as a final killing blow, having first attacked them with its beaks. Hozier alludes to his lover as the thorns necessary for him, a shrike, to survive on.

The verses provide further context to the relationship that is now lost to him. In the first verse, Hozier recounts his mistake of not being outspoken enough about his love to his partner, leading them to feel unrewarded and insecure in the relationship, ultimately the catalyst for the breakup. The second verse explains the dependency of Hozier on his partner, who provided him with invaluable goodness and meaning. Eventually, in the bridge, Hozier, like the bird, is attempting to flee back to the comfort of his love, the “hedgerows where bodies are mounted”, as hedgerows are usually large shrubbery decorated with sharp spikes, ideal for a shrike to use.

The choruses, however, seem to relay a less healthy sense, as the line “Hung like the pelt of some prey you had worn” portrays the shrike as one of the very same things that it impales on the thorns, and the line “By your grounded and giving and darkening scorn” shows the lover possibly being verbally abusive. Taken as a whole, “Shrike” very much appears to be the last chapter in the trilogy started by “It Will Come Back” and followed by “As It Was”.

9. Talk Listen here A very different song from the rest of his discography in the sense that it has a very “unreliable narrator with not the best intention in mind”, “Talk” has been described by Hozier as one of his favorite tracks on the record. During the album release party, he mentioned that: “There’s all these lofty notions of, kind of, of true love, and lofty tales and kind of romantic language is used in the verses. And the chorus just admits to, like, “I’m only using this language to distract from the fact that I’m trying to seduce you here, for fear that you find out how I’m imagining you.””

The concept of the song revolves around the singer using poetic phrases and tales as pickup lines just to mask his true intentions of plainly seducing the love interest. The

inspiration came from the period in which Hozier briefly attended college and met other men who did the exact pretentious thing as described in the song. However, the idea was also a critique of himself, as the majority of Hozier’s songs also involve him using a lot of allusions, euphemisms, and esoteric references to portray love. This is easily evidenced by the fact that Hozier uses the story of Orpheus, a Greek mythology and the subject of his first and only essay written during his college attendance, in the first verse, which would be a very normal thing for Hozier to do were the context of the song less atypical.

Evidently, the song preceding this track is about Hozier comparing himself and his lover to a bird and a thorn respectively, while the following song mentions an array of different biblical and mythological allegories. While “Talk” could be understood as an attempt to poke fun at Hozier’s college peers, it could also be a self-aware portrait of himself, similar to another famous pop song written by Taylor Swift called “Blank Space”.

To be more specific, the tale of Orpheus is often cited as one of the greatest examples of Greek romantic tragedy. Orpheus is a mythological poet, musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion, having been said to be able to charm all living creatures with his music. One day, his wife, Eurydice, was wandering in the forest when she was attacked by a sheperd and fell in the pit of snakes , ending up being bitten on her heel and died instantly. Her body later was found by Orpheus who, overcome by grief, started playing such a sad song that all the gods wept. Eventually, he decided to descend to the Underworld to find his beloved, where Hades and Persephone, the rulers of the Underworld, were so moved by the Orpheus' song that they allowed Eurydice to return to life but on one condition: Orpheus should walk in front of his beloved wife and not look back until they reach the light of their world, or he would lose her forever. Delighted, Orpheus began his ascend to the upper world, but was unable to hear Eurydice’s footsteps, and so, in fear that gods tricked him, he lost his faith and turned back to see his wife just a few steps before the exit. She was there but a shade, instantly taken away by the dead.

The singer of “Talk” compares himself to the great love between Orpheus and Eurydice and other glorious romantic images in the verses before ending with the line “Imagine being loved by me”, which is both a commanding and self-centered pick-up line. Funnily enough, despite the somewhat vain tone that the line invokes, which is most likely Hozier’s intention as to both undermine himself and other shameless men, it has also been received very welcomely by his fans. This is consequently both ironic and probably inescapable as in reality, women have actually been seduced by phrases not even as remotely delicate.

10. Be Listen here In tandem with the nihilism showcased in “No Plan”, “Be” also writes about the reckless abandon that Hozier wishes to advise his lover in the face of certain doom. Whereas “No Plan” takes a more scientific approach with its reasoning, “Be” has Hozier go back to using biblical and mythological imagery.

The first verse explicitly portrays different apocalyptic situations, drawing from multitude of different sources of literature. “When the gyre widens on and when the wave breaks” references William Butler Yeats’ poem “The Second Coming”, which is also about a doomsday scenario and conveys an utter sense of hopelessness. The next line employs the image of St. Peter, as the gatekeeper of Heaven, in biblical fiction, having lost his temperament and condemning everyone to Hell by denying entry through the pearly gates for good. The following line dives into Greek mythology, portraying Atlas, previously referenced on “Movement”, and the Titan responsible for holding the planet in his arms, as being flippantly playful and shaking his arms, thereby also rattling the world. “When the birds are heard again in their singing”, on the contrary, illustrates a post-apocalyptic scenario, when the industrialized civiliation has disapppeared, lending way for nature to blossom again. “When the Earth is trembling on some new beginning” implies this as well, presenting the world as starting over from scratch, just like when humans first appeared, hence the line “when Adam first came”. On a different note, this line has been explained by Hozier on Twitter to also be about sexual orgasm.

The song goes on to encourage the person to whom it’s being sung to remain true to themselves, based on a series of reasoning that develops from the biblical tale of Adam and Eve. Hozier previously tackled this story in “From Eden”, and he used it here again, but toward a different end. His argument for being “as you’ve always been” boils down to the fact that he doesn’t consider “the first sin” that Adam and Eve committed to be a bad thing. In an interview, Hozier explained the chorus: “It’s about the myth of the Garden of Eden, about original sin. That myth is about two human beings being told what not to do and, in doing it, they perform an act of love, which upsets a greater power than themselves and they are cast out. I’m viewing their actions instead as liberating, and as a very necessary action. It’s not so much a sin as a vital act of protest.” Contrary to most biblical teachings that consider Eve’s action of eating the apple from the garden of Eden as the first original sin and a shameful act that led to mankind’s downfall, Hozier chooses to present it as an act of courage and freedom. He proceeds to argue that once God has banned Adam and Eve from it, the Garden of Eden has become abandoned and empty as well, without the laughter and joy that could only be provided by humans. In the end, he

questions whether which side of the wall seperating humans and the Garden truly suffers.

The image of “the wall” can be understood as an allusion to the border wall seperating Mexico and the United States that President Donald Trump frequently brings up as well, as political discord has been often cited by Hozier as an inspiration for the album. The topic of immigrants is developed further in the second verse, where Hozier analyzes the issue of reincarnation, pondering the prospect of people opposing each other being reborn in reversed roles, thus possibly continuing the cycle of hatred that will inevitably destroy the planet. The second chorus then examines the effect of war on creating a barren wasteland through the act of burning down all building, forever rendering the land infertile, and forcing everyone to starve. War, in its nature, is political and, as such, in keeping with the theme of the song.

Amidst all of this calamity, Hozier still urges his lover to stay faithful to their being, seeing that a future of doom is unavoidable, and in such a situation of hopelessness, they would all be better off in a dead world, like how Adam and Eve benefit more from having been kicked out of the Garden of Eden than the Garden itself does, or how the beauty of birds singing or flowers growing (“Or be like the rose that you hold in your hand, that will grow bold in a barren and desolate land) can only exist when all the fighting and war are over and the Earth starts anew.

11. Dinner & Diatribes Listen here The eleventh track is also the third single released from the second album. Released on Valentine’s Day 2019, Hozier described the song as “a playful number that tries to credit that feeling of relief when leaving any tedious social engagement.”

A relatively simple song compared to Hozier’s general discography save for the guitar riff that starts in the second chorus, “Dinner & Diatrbies” places the singer and his love interest in the context of a dinner party, attended mostly by the love interest’s friends and social contacts, whose company Hozier does not enjoy, illustrated by the first verse: “Honey, this club here is stuck up Dinner and diatribes” “Your friends are a fate that befell me Hell is the talking type”

“Dinner and Diatribes” refer to the main topics of conversation at the party, in which the guests mostly make small talk about food or impolite remarks about somebody or something else. The song goes on to portray the silver lining of the situation as Hozier’s lover’s willingness to compensate him with promises of sexual pleasure after the party.

In general, the song illustrates the singer’s total disregard for social conventions and formalities, preferring to make love to his partner instead.

The music video which was released on March 6th 2019 added further details to the message of the song. Directed by Anthony Byrne and starring Anya Taylor-Joy, the video portrayed a woman trying to escape a dinner party presumably hosted by Hozier. At the beginning of the video, Hozier roasted a marshmallow on fire and ate it, rendering his teeth black with scum. The woman made multiple attempts to light him on fire with her matches and to escape the room, but always failed, due to the waitstaff restraining her.

It was not until a waitress provided assistance that the woman successfully lit Hozier on fire, roasted a marshmallow over his burning body, and ate it. The video ends with the woman being hit with a burning match herself.

Titled “A Seat At The Table”, the video seems to present Hozier as an anthropomorphized figure of societal norms and Anya Taylor-Joy as a woman being imprisoned by him, meaning formal conventions. Hozier seemingly was able to control the waitstaff who restrains the woman in the party, further cementing the allegory of him as an omnipotent force. Without the help from a waitress who provided her own matchsticks, the woman wouldn’t have been able to succeed in her endeavour to ignite her captor. But in doing so, she also became like the captor herself when she did the same thing Hozier did at the beginning of the video. The video allegedly implied that in destroying one set of social rules, people run the risk of creating another based around their own actions.

12. Would That I Listen here The name of the twelfth track on the album is a pun. Explaining to Apple Music, Hozier said “‘would that I’ is like a way of saying ‘I wish that I did’. It’s a pun on all the wood that I’ve loved”. A very classic folk song that recalls a lot of the elements that permeat the rest of his discography, “Would That I” slowly builds up to the explosive and cathartic chorus while starting out with softly spoken verses that recall the intimacy of “Like Real People Do”. The theme of the song is akin to “Almost (Sweet Music)” in that they both talk about the theraupetic loving of his new relationship, except that in “Almost”, his new lover helps him become whole by reminding him of his old love, in “Would That I”, they burn down the past relationship.

The first verse of the song describes the effect Hozier’s past lover had on him, in that they were like a willow tree providing shade and comfort. Their presence was sorely missed however, as when their love withdrew, his reaction could only be described as “weeping”.

The termination of the relationship was out of necessity, it appeared, basing on the line “the sound of the saw must be known by the tree”, implying the lover themselves felt that the end was inevitable.

The second verse of the song went on to characterize the new partner as the fire that burned away the “wood” of his last relationship, “laying waste to [his] loving long ago”.

This new “flame” is figuratively burning away all memories and lingering feelings about his old loves and replacing them with fire and newfound passion. Historically, Hozier has always been mesmerized by the beauty of fire. As in “Arsonist’s Lullabye”, which was written with utmost sincerity, he stated that “as a child, [he]’d sit for hours staring into open flame. Something in it had power. Could barely tear [his] eyes away”. It could be assumed that the fire of his new love helped remind him of his true longing, as in the bridge, he promised that he would continue to “worship the flame” as long as his lover is around, and for that, “all the wood that [he] loved is long ago” and has become forgotten.

The chorus adamantly clarified the message of the song, in that Hozier would gladly let the fire keep burning down the forest of his old relationships because his new love is good to him.

13. Sunlight Listen here “Sunlight” is another song written about a form of destructive love that Hozier caught himself in. Mainly composed around heavy percussions and electric guitar, the thirteenth track on the album possesses an anthemic feeling, repeating the title a total of 53 times.

In the eyes of the song’s narrator’s, his lover is both an absolute necessity and a force of destruction in his life. Supporting this allegory are a number of comparisons to different creatures and beings that are all addicted to sunlight: an “acolyte”, a “moth”, fabric, and Icarus.

The first verse sees Hozier as a servant of the Moon goddess, Artemis, (“betray the Moon as acolyte). In Greek mythology, deities, Artemis included, tend to have “acolytes”, worshippers and helpers, who are vowed to chastity, so when one of them falls in love with the rays of the Sun, they are betraying their goddess.

Hozier compares himself to a moth in the first chorus, believing that like the insect, he is also naturally attracted to sunlight. This is an incorrect comparison, for moths are nocturnal animals, so they don’t appear during the day. They are only seemingly

attracted to manmade light because it messes with their navigation senses. It is possible that Hozier is referencing a meme instead, specifically the Moth Lamp meme.

Another Greek reference, Icarus, is specified in the bridge. In his story, Icarus’ father and himself attempted to escape the labyrinthic island of Crete by building two great pairs of mechanical wings. Despite being precautioned by his father not to fly neither too low nor too high, for the dampness of the sea and the hotness of the sun would both destroy the wings, Icarus became too distracted by his newfound ability to fly and wandered too high into the Sun’s rays. The feathers came loose and Icarus plunged to his death in the sea.

And finally, Hozier compares himself to fabric in the bridge, a very simple justaxposition, as the colors of a fabric will easily fade away if they are left in the sun for too long, meaning, constant exposure to sunlight can be damaging.

In a nutshell, the song indicates Hozier’s natural and endless devotion to his love, regarding them as nothing less than an integral part of his life. However, throughout all of these comparisons, their biggest mutual attribute is that the main subject has to suffer for their love of sunlight. An Artemis acolyte has to betray their faith, a moth can be killed if it gets too close to the light, Icarus accidentally killed himself by doing just that, and colors can be damaged by exposure to sunlight. The song clearly signifies that Hozier’s worship of his partner is damaging and toxic, very similarly to a lot of his previous songs on both this album and the one before it.

14. Wasteland, Baby!

Listen here The final track, the title track and so arguably the most important song on the album, “Wasteland, Baby!” encapsulates the main thesis of the album. Similar to the respective closing track on his debut, “Cherry Wine”, which was recorded at 5 a.m on the roof of an abandoned hotel, “Wasteland, Baby!” had a very pure and gentle mood, with the gritty lyrics being sung very softly. Aside from the finger-picking guitar sound, the song also adds an organ and a synthesizer, an experimental instrument Hozier newly added to the album’s sonic landscape. As a result, the track comes to convey a very ethereal, mystical and magical atmosphere, in stark contrast to the lyrics, which depict the conclusion of the world.

“Wasteland, Baby!” is set in a doomsday scenario in the veins of Armageddon or an ecosystem collapse. Behind the scenes, Hozier often cited the distressing news about climate change and environmental destruction as sources of inspiration for the album, and many lines in the song are evidence of this, including “fire at the end of the world”, “the death of the Sun”, “as they sob from the city roofs”, “the stench of the sea and the

absence of green”, and “the death of all things that are seen and unseen”. Global warming, cosmic devastation, extreme flooding, rotting ocean life, decaying greenery, and species extinction are all mentioned in the song. Unlike the apocalyptic events portrayed in “Be”, “Wasteland, Baby!”’s vision of the decrepit future is more rooted in nature.

Furthermore, while “Be” has a more gloomy reponse to the apocalypse, “Wasteland, Baby!” is much more rosy and optimistic. Hozier advises his love interest in the song to not give up on hope, even while doomsday is looming on the horizons, the justification being that it is both inevitable (“Happens each time a boy falls in love with a girl”) and familiar (“All the things yet to come are the things that have passed”). Taking a hopeful outlook, Hozier believes that the threat of the world ending is actually a opportunity. The line “Not an end, but the start of all things that are left to do” can be interpreted in two different ways: that the complete destruction of the Earth is a chance to either start anew and build a better world, or to start acknowledging what truly matters to us and changing for the better. Basing on the second line of thinking, this doomsday-induced clarity helps Hozier to see that his love interest is truly the one he wants to spend the remaining last days on Earth with, hence the chorus: “I’m in love, I’m in love with you.”

III, Recommendations for Hozier and audience 1. Recommendations for Hozier In general, the album is a very commendable effort to evolve his own sound and artistry.

Hozier’s exploration of different genres and instruments have resulted in a thematically cohesive yet sonically diverse record, which is a befitting approach for a follow-up album to one of the most beloved debut album in the 2010s with a very unique appeal. For the next record, the singer is presented with a few options, which will be analyzed below.

1.1. A continued search for novelty “Almost”, “No Plan”, “To Noise Making (Sing)”, “Dinner & Diatribes”, and “Wasteland, Baby!” are the biggest examples of Hozier’s experimentations on the album. Despite certain review sites’ criticism of the album as repeated attempts to replicate the sound and success of “Take Me To Church, in reality, the instrumentation and production on the sophomore record are very diversified and noticeably different from his breakout debut single. Despite the pointed negativity, the varied soundscape has been received warmly by the majority of audience. As such, Hozier can persist in his explorations of different genres and instruments, so long as his core sound remains untouched.

On the other hand, his lyricism needs a slight evolution, which it hasn’t done much on this album. The major theme of “Wasteland, Baby!” has been somewhat explored to its full extent, but the most glaring error is the fact that the majority of the songs are still constrained to his standard subject of romance, usually in the form of utter devotion.

Aside from “Nina Cried Power”, “No Plan”, “To Noise Making (Sing)”, “Be”, and “Wasteland, Baby!”, the album tells the same story of a person falling in love with and worshipping somebody else, despite all their flaws and misbehaviors, repeatedly during its duration. While there are still a lot of creativities on display, the repetitivity would be much harder to ignore if the next record still follows the same pattern.

As a result, if Hozier seeks to continue experimenting and evolving his sound, he will need to apply the same risk-taking tendency he showcased on his production to his songwriting. It’s unnecessary that he strays away from the romantic theme completely, rather that he should consider explore other facets of the topic in order to fully utilize and expand his lyricism.

1.2. A foray into concept albums “Wasteland, Baby!” sets itself in a very close vicinity to an actual concept album, that which means an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually, typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme,

which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Hozier’s sophomore record already has an overarching theme of desolation, but the individual songs do not always adhere to that topic, mostly existing on the fringe of it. As suggested above, it would be a good idea for Hozier to develop his songwriting skills further, and a concept album would complement that challenge suitably.

The idea of revolving an entire record around a single gimmick is not new and some of the most famous and beloved records in music history have also been classified as concept albums, including David Bowie’s “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars”, The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band”, and The Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds”. Hozier’s contemporaries have also tried their hands at the challenge, for example: Bon Iver’s “For Emma, Forever Ago”, Sufjan Stevens’ “Illinois”, and Father John Misty’s “Pure Comedy”, all of which have also been received favorably by critics and audience alike.

It’s not fundamental that Hozier have to craft a concept album to diversify his discography and prove his artistry, it’s simply that this approach would be a good exercise for him to push his musicianship even further.

1.3. A collaboration project Even though both of his albums have included collaborations with other artists, these songs, most notably “In A Week” and “Nina Cried Power” for featuring guest performers, have little to no visible difference from the rest of his catalogue. Hozier himself has never lent his voice or writing to any other artist, except for a few occasions in which his songs were remixed by others. As an artist with a powerful voice and somewhat mallable songwriting, he could do well to further expand the scope of his collaboration efforts, which could result in new and unexpected results, leading to a variety of different prospects for his later records.

A collaboration project could either end up as a single song in which Hozier is featured on somebody else’s work, similarly to Justin Vernon’s appearances on multiple Kanye West’s songs, which end up informing the former’s vision for his third album, or an entire collaborative album, in the veins of “Love This Giant” by David Byrne and St. Vincent, or “Big Red Machine” by Aaron Dessner and Justin Vernon.

A few artists that Hozier could feasibly and successfully collaborate with are: Florence + The Machine, HONNE, Maggie Rogers, St. Vincent, The Veils, Camille O'Sullivan, Nick Cave, James Bay, James Blake, Donna Missal, Dermot Kennedy, and Ben Howard.

2. Recommendations for audience Despite the notoriously long period between the releases of “Hozier” and “Wasteland, Baby!”, Hozier has stated that there would be new music being published in the near future and the wait for the next record would be shortened, probably as a result of extensive materials being written prior to the release of the sophomore album that did not make the cut. Nevertheless, the audience would find it best to keep expectations reasonable. This section of the essay aims to recount a few artists whom fans of Hozier most likely would enjoy, either as a break from listening to Hozier, or to discover while Hozier is inactive.

The closest companion to Hozier’s music would undoubtedly be Florence + The Machine, as both Hozier, and Florence Welch, the frontwoman and singer of the band, possess similarly powerful voices, touch on similar lyrical topics, and occupy similar genres (alternative rock and pop). While Welch’s voice has far more range and flourishes, it is also inherently emotive, with a rich, ethereal and dark texture, not unlike Hozier’s.

Florence + The Machine’s songs usually utilize biblical, literary and mythological imagery as well, though quite more abstractly and esoterically. Most fans of one artist are usually fans of the other as well, and there have been many requests for both to collaborate, to which Hozier has acknowledged. If one were to attempt getting into Florence + The Machine, they would be advised to begin with songs like “Cosmic Love”, “Dog Days Are Over”, “No Light, No Light”, “Shake It Out”, “Delilah”, “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful”, and “Hunger”. However, tracks like “What The Water Gave Me”, “Between Two Lungs”, “Seven Devils”, “St. Jude”, “Big God”, and “June” are those that sound most comparable to Hozier’s discography.

For a more classic alternative artist with folk roots, Ben Howard and Bon Iver are good examples. Their discographies get progressively more electronic and moody, but Howard’s dark timbre vocal and Bon Iver’s soft harmony are always present on their songs and very similar to Hozier on tracks like “Black Flies”, “I Forget Where We Were”, “All Is Now Harmed”, “Nica Libre At Dusk”, and “End of The Affair”, and “For Emma”, “Skinny Love”, “Holocene”, and “Beth/Rest”. Both artists make use of classic accoustic instruments in their debut record, and add more synthetic sounds to their sophomore.

Howard’s lyrics tend to involve a lot of obscure literature, which is slightly different from Hozier’s, but are generally enjoyable to scholars alike. Ben Howard does not have many blissful and upbeat songs, so Hozier fans who prefer songs like “As It Was”, or “Cherry Wine”, would have an easier time getting acquainted with Howard’s music. Meanwhile, Bon Iver’s lyrics are extremely abstruse, oftentimes using randomly assorted phrases, mostly focusing on conveying the feelings of the artist.

On the contrary, James Bay’s use of instrumentals are much more close to Hozier’s.

Driven mostly by electric guitar, drums and bass, but recently diving into more electronic instruments, James Bay’s music tends not to get too lyrically complicated and have few references to literary work, thus becoming much more accessible to the average listeners.

Songs like “Let It Go”, “Us”, “Hold Back The River”, “If You Ever Want To Be In Love” have been cited as very representative of Bay’s work and his resemblance to Hozier.

There are also a number of artists who possess certain characteristics that Hozier also does, yet do not entirely compare, for reason of other major differences. However, it is nevertheless a good idea to make a pass at their discographies, if only just to diversify one’s own music tastes. This list is ranked by order of similarities to Hozier: James Vincent McMorrow, Iron & Wine, Vance Joy, Tom Odell, Sufjan Stevens, George Ezra, Jaymes Young, James Blake, John Mayer, HONNE, Maggie Rogers, Lana Del Rey, and Sufjan Stevens.

IV, Conclusion As stated in the title of this thesis, “Wasteland, Baby!” is a true nihilist album. Touching on the overarching theme of inevitable annihilation, Hozier has managed to craft a very lyrically cohesive and sonically diverse record that showcases not only his gradually evolving musicianship but also his political ideology.

There have been many instances of artists advertising their work as being highly politically and socially motivated yet being extremely ambiguous in the final products.

To the utter contrary, Hozier, while having made references to influences drawn from politics news while working on the album, has been more than transparent on his work regarding his stance in the current climate. Songs like “Take Me To Church” and “Cherry Wine” on the debut album hinted at his ability to tackle social issues both persuasively and subtlely, the artist’s songwriting has evolved to be even more confident and authentic, while remaining equally poetic, in its declaration of imporant political issues the public should not only pay attention to but also take action on. “Nina Cried Power”, as an opener for the album, suitably sets the tone for Hozier’s forthright effort to acknowledge activism and inspires listeners to as well. “Be”, on the other hand, has been Hozier’s most political song so far, mentioning a number of issues and debates that have been plaguing the media. These are the mark of an artist not only finding his voice, but also using it to embolden others.

The other aspect of the album sees Hozier reacting to the hopeless situation of the world.

The majority of the songs on the album demonstrate a certain sense of reckless abandon, most evident on “No Plan”, “Be”, and “Wasteland, Baby!”. In response to the constant threats and incessant bad news, Hozier’s preferred coping mechanism is to be unbothered. This does not imply that he chooses to be ignorant, rather that he accepts the inevitability of it all and chooses not to be negatively affected by the outside sources, eventually developing into a perspective that helps him overcome his fears and embrace a newfound optimism, which is the message that underlies almost every song on the album. Even tracks like “Almost (Sweet Music)”, “Nobody”, “To Noise Making (Sing)” and “Would That I” seemingly have little connection to the overall theme, yet still add to the message of hope and positivity that Hozier wants to infuse in his audience. “To Noise Making (Sing)” seems to relay this idea the best, as possibly the most optimistic and cheery song in his entire discography that directly addresses the listener. While this message has been dismissed and criticized in some reviews, it is still a remarkable step for Hozier to take, considering both the moody and pessimistic tone on his debut album, and the fact that he himself is an activist.

In a nutshell, there is no denial that Hozier’s sophomore album is a very formiddable one that perfectly complements his debut. There are certain flaws that should definitely be taken into account and be improved upon, including the partially stagnant songwriting that still centers itself too much on romance and the underdeveloped concept that is yet to be fully explored to all of its potential. However, these are all negligible setbacks, so long as Hozier is capable of rectifying them for his next record and further develop himself as an artist. “Wasteland, Baby!� itself, meanwhile, is still a very well-made record that is capable of holding up to the rest of his discography and will most definitely be favorably enjoyed by the audience, both the average and the dedicated.

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