Hozier - Wasteland, Baby!

Despite becoming something of a meme in lieu of his monster hit Take Me to Church - somehow all the way back in 2013 now - the stock of Hozier is surprisingly high. This record managed to hit the #1 spot on America's Billboard 200, and in his native Ireland of course. And yet... the critics have turned.

A string of EPs filled in the gaps between this and his eponymous 2014 debut, but it seems the dreaded task of having to follow up one of the biggest hits of the decade has been fulfilled by chucking everything at this: a gospel, marching drums and only Mavis Bloody Staples are drafted in.

Mavis lends her inimitable voice to 'Nina Cried Power', a track that follows one of those aforementioned EPs and was presumably deemed too good to not put on an actual LP. Understandably so, as it's a dramatic, vocal showcase that is full of indebted admiration to the music giants it mentions; a real celebration of music. That same vibe is dialed down a little but still present later on 'To Noise Making (Sing)', a fond tribute to everyone whose "head tilt back, your funny mouth to the clouds". He turns that signature organ into a weapon of seduction on 'Talk' ("imagine being loved by me") and it's semi-effective, but on 'Be' he deploys that rich instrumentation with one of the most compelling opening lyrics in recent years.

When all the worst we fear lets fall its weight
When the gyre widens on and when the wave breaks
When St. Peter loses cool and bars the gates
When Atlas acts the maggot, makes his arms shake

It's confusing, then, that it's followed by some of the twee-est, malleable nonsense he's ever released. On 'Almost (Sweet Music)' there's a dreaded Sheeranesque quality - all jagged, off-key tunes and an acoustic guitar that is slapped around mercilessly to emulate grit. On 'Nobody' he emulates that boozy, no-fucks-given facade by musing that it's "gin o'clock where I wake up" and brags about having danced "on dodgy molly" and it's all just so... boring. There are moments, too, of over-production: 'Dinner & Diatribes' has that same earnest clapping, fast-paced rhythm that has been oversold on pretty much every BRIT Award winner with a guitar this past five years, and is indistinguishable from your Tom Walkers, your James Bays and your Mumfords. The latter could very conceivably have written 'Would That I', too - a screaming and desperate romantic declaration that is quickly forgotten.

It's all a shame because he is demonstrably capable of better: he can command a room and turn atmospherically eerie like on 'Movement', making the most of his signature organs and a phenomenal voice. He has moments of lyrical greatness on 'No Plan', with this broody, sweeping opening:

For starts
What a waste to say the heart could feel apart
Or feel complete, baby
Why would you make out of words a cage for your own bird?
When it sings so sweet
The screaming, heaving fuckery of the world?
Why would you offer a name to the same old tired pain?
When all things come from nothing and, honey, if nothing's gained?

And on 'As It Was' there's this picturesque, yet at the same time sinister feel that's the perfect backdrop for a musing on nostalgia, of a romantic serenity "before the otherness came". His signature style (that's earned him meme status) of that forestry imagery, wildlife and spectres popping in and out of his songs, surfaces on 'Shrike' and whilst the song itself is pretty muted and unmemorable, it's a pretty sojourn.

Wasteland, Baby! makes for a frustratingly stop-start listen; his styles and influences are so randomly dotted that it's difficult to find a groove or earnestly attribute the record to one theme that sells well. Whilst it's admirable to try his hand at many tables, the end result is a confused record that wastes its ingredients. An hour-long experience that could very easily be shaved of 15 minutes (and therefore three or four of its worst tracks) into something impressive.

Rating: 5.5/10
Highlights: Nina Cried Power, No Plan, As It Was, Be
Avoid: Nobody, Sunlight, Almost (Sweet Music), Dinner & Diatribes, Would That I

Artwork Watch: This was captured by his mother, and how many mothers can honestly say they've never tried to drown a child?
For fans of: running around barefoot in the forest; being chased by ghosts; Irish guys

Coming next: MARINA