Since releasing single ‘Take Me To Church’ in 2013 Andrew Hozier-Byrne, or just Hozier to most, has had an incredible few years.
At the age of 24, not only has he performed at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, but was also recently nominated for a Grammy Award for Song of the Year. But for tonight’s sold-out headline show at London’s Shepherds Bush Empire, can Irish-born homeboy Hozier leave some of the Hollywood hysteria at the door and remind us of his original draws?
Joining his band on stage, Hozier hums along the opening to ‘Angel Of Small Death & The Codeine Scene’ before drumbeat and backing singers join together in unison for an immediately soulful entrance. With an impressive light show, Hozier is illuminated at the forefront, whilst during concise moments other members are beamed up for full expressive affect.
On more than one occasion, the room is dispelled into complete silence, mesmerised by the cultivating art eluding from the singer’s aura. Although there’s nothing imperious about Hozier, as at all times he stays hidden behind his wavy hair covering his eyes, only choosing to make contact directly with the audience when telling tales of song meanings.
Fellow Irish singer-songwriter Alana Henderson joins Hozier mid-set; to perform an intimately personal rendition of his own track ‘In A Week’, where again the whole room is silenced by such a special and moving moment between two talented musicians. With Hozier you can sense that through every song he has a story to tell, interwoven with love, passion and heartbreak, that is often only found in older; more life experienced souls. But Hozier seemingly is an old soul and shares his appetite for life through timeless compositions that can carry you through for years to come.
The singer later covers ‘Illinois Blues’ by Skip James, where the band clear the room for Hozier to take center stage alone. Through guitar tremors and vibrato finger slides he takes an acoustic guitar and leads the crowd into a spell of euphoria. Potentially, the track we’ve all been waiting for is now much less inconsequential, as tonight Hozier has delivered a set full of such exquisite talent that his career is only going to blossom into something much more worthwhile than mainstream fame alone.
Tonight, it’s refreshing to witness an artist, who’s noticeably introverted onstage, but manages through song and adoration for his art to release something truly captivating. Although that’s not to say said song, ‘Take Me To Church’ isn’t as alluring as we’d hoped it would be, as the room is lifted into a standing ovation, leaving Hozier stunned and humbly thanking everyone for joining him tonight.
Returning onstage for an encore of ‘Cherry Wine’ followed by lesser-known track ‘Run,’ Hozier mentions: “This one isn’t one of mine, but we use it on fun occasions, and as this is a fun occasion we’re going to play it.”
Breaking into Amerie’s ‘1 Thing’ the singer soulfully twists the song into a broken down bluesy rendition, allowing the evening to end on a high. Tonight has made it completely and utterly easy to fall in love with Hozier, as a true musician in every sense of the word. But after announcing at the end of the night that he’ll be back on tour in June, something tells us this won’t be the last time we fall head over heels for the Irishman.
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