Hozier, the Irish musician known for hits Take Me to Church and Almost, has returned from a four-year hiatus. Performing at the Castlefield Bowl in Manchester last night, a stadium of many thousands learned (or relearned) why he is a celebrated performer.
Soon to release his third album, Hozier remains a unique, enigmatic talent; deftly weaving together genres and influences to create a sound both soulful and electric, mixing baleful humming with thumping bass lines and head-bobbing rock rhythms.
There’s an atmosphere to his music that achieves its full impact in a stadium, amongst the pairing of many hands and voices. Propelled, in no small part, by the artists themselves; Hozier and his cohort are eager crowd pleasers, happy to interact with the audience at any opportunity, leading us further into the experience.
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When we arrive, the sky, after many days of grey, clears. A breakthrough sun warms those that dressed for its arrival, and irritates those that did not (I forgot my sunglasses). It’s Manchester, however, and by the time Victoria Canal, the first supporting act, takes to the stage, the rain clouds have regrouped.
But we’re already here; she starts, and the spell takes hold. On the broad spectrum of Hozier’s musical influences, she’s on the slower, soulful side. What they share is the quasi-psychedelic soundscapes, the sense that you’re inhabiting a shared dream.
Following shortly after are The Tesky Brothers: a blues rock band from Australia, exceptionally complementing the soul and gospel influences in Hozier’s catalogue. It begins to rain in earnest through an apropos melodious number, every note resonating with the unperturbed crowd. The sky. The train passing over the nearby bridge. Moments that remind you where you are, and which wouldn’t be quite the same anywhere else. Their music is a perfect fit, with powerful, stirring vocals that come as a welcome surprise.
By the time the main act takes to the stage, the clouds have done their worst, and tentatively separate. No one is dissuaded; if anything, we owe the rain some thanks.
It’s not easy to identify who Hozier’s core fanbase are. As he works through his setlist – Eat Your Young, Jackie and Wilson, From Eden – it’s clear that people are there for marginally different reasons, expressed in their differing appreciation (and knowledge of) his work. But that also makes sense, and is a testament to his eclectic influences, and the separate identities of each album (or track).
The hits follow: Cherry Wine, Almost, Someone New, Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene and, in the encore, Work Song.
When I told a relative that I was going to see Hozier, they asked if he was the one that sang about churches. And yes, the final track before the encore was his 2013 hit Take Me to Church, which sent a shot of enthusiasm through an already enthused crowd. It’s one of the songs that illustrate his skill as a lyricist, and his championing of social issues (its first note was met by the prompt raising of a number of pride flags). Eat Your Young is similar. A song about ambition, and its perils. In his music, love is usually the redeemer; the thing that survives when nothing else does, and makes strife worthwhile.
There’s nothing heavy about his lyrics; they appeal to the everyday, to the universal of human experience to highlight its more specific and insidious manifestations.
In the best performances the space between audience and stage recedes. Inner becomes outer, and many thousands start to feel like an audience of one. Something akin to connectedness pervades. It doesn’t arrive easy – a diverse catalogue means some songs land better than others – but when it does, it’s there, and we’re swaying in rhythm, singing along, hoping that now it’s here, it won’t end.
