Hozier’s new album, Unreal discovery, surpasses his previous works in terms of coherent storytelling and layered meanings. While his early works showcased his skills as a lyricist and vocalist, the intense connections between the more recent songs make it nearly impossible to dissect a singular track without also considering its context within the album as a whole.
The opening song, “De Selby (Part 1),” has a dark, dreamy quality, emphasizing the overall mood of the album, but after this introduction the story changes. “First Time” is about Hozier’s revulsion at hearing his own name, referencing the drink from the River Lethe, a mythological river from the ancient Greek underworld that makes the drinker forget all his memories. This combination of classic and modern storytelling continues throughout the album, creating multiple layers of meaning for the listener to dissect.
Hozier takes us deeper into his religious references with “Francesca,” a song about Francesca da Rimini, a character from Dante’s novel. Divine comedy who is trapped in eternal damnation with her lover after being discovered and murdered by her husband. The song highlights Francesca’s commitment and unwavering love for her partner with a chorus of “If anyone asked me at the end / I’ll tell them to put me back in / Baby, I’d do it again.”
Hozier’s transitions between songs demonstrate the story of this album as a cohesive unit. From “Francesca” to the devastatingly sweet “I, Carrion (Icarian)” followed by “Eat Your Young,” each song adds to the overall meaning he’s trying to convey. Francesca “flew too close to the sun” with her affair, so to speak; then, in “I, Carrion (Icarian),” Hozier weaves the myth of Icarus into a love story, with the Earth held up by the “you” referenced in the song and moving away from the speaker. The song is filled with dreamlike lines and clever wordplay, such as “If these heights should bring my downfall / Let me be your own / Icarian Carrion.”
Referencing Icarus, “I, Carrion (Icarian)” recalls the myth and how Icarus’ father, Daedalus, was the one who gave him the wings. This brings us to “Eat Your Young,” a song about how the adults of the world have sacrificed the lives and futures of their children by creating weapons and destroying resources. With lyrics like “Flaying children for a war drum / Putting food on the table by selling bombs and guns / It’s quicker and easier to eat your little ones,” Hozier makes a graphic argument against military-industrial complex and the way previous generations cursed their successors.
Hozier continues his criticism of society with the song “Damage Gets Done” featuring Brandi Carlile. The song is about how it sets people up to fail, especially those who are struggling financially. The lines “I wish I knew it was just our turn / To be blamed for a world we had no power in” demonstrate the helplessness of the situation and how society blames the victims of oppression financial rather than helping them.
“Who We Are” has similar themes to “Damage Gets Done,” describing the feeling of giving one’s life to an intangible dream, only to struggle to define oneself and slowly lose what made the dream worthwhile. It also continues to focus on nighttime and dreamscapes, with lines like “We were born at night” and explaining that moving through the darkness to get through life is simply part of who we are.
Hozier’s identity crisis continues in the heartbreaking lament “Butchered Tongue” and its successor “Anything But.” The first verse of “Butchered Tongue” shows how language connects people and cultures, and the connection between language and identity. The final lines of the chorus, “A bouchered language still / Singin’ here over the ground”, foreshadow the direction of the song. The lyrics then describe young men with their ears cut off, punished for speaking their native language, and how oppressive societies have used language to fuel cultural genocides. Highlighted by the use of Gaelic throughout the album, this song is a scathing critique of the treatment of these communities and a defiant statement that the language is still there – even if the language is massacred, it still sings to the surface. In almost direct contrast, “Anything But” describes escapism in its truest form. With lyrics such as “I don’t want to be anything / But I’ll do anything just to get away,” we see the desire to escape the corporeal self and disappear.
“Abstract (Psychopomp)” recounts Hozier’s memory of a child saving a half-dead animal from the road. The song is about small acts of kindness and also about accepting the fact that this animal is going to die, because everything must end. This continues the theme of acceptance and change created in the song “All Things End” earlier in the album. The alternate title of this song, “Psychopomp”, is a term for the Greek spirit guides of the underworld.
“Unknown/Nth” was one of the singles released before the full album, like “Francesca” and “De Selby (Part 2)”. The song describes how the worst part of heartbreak is being unknown, particularly the chorus. This alternative title, “Nth”, continues the theme of religious or classical references by evoking the ninth circle of hell, betrayal. It is the worst punishment a soul can face and is the last element of darkness before the triumphant and cleansing “First Light”.
“First Light”, the last song of Unearth unreal, ends the album in spectacular fashion. With clamorous instruments and a pulsing rhythm, Hozier demonstrates the feeling of waking up after a disturbing night of dreams and visions. The sense of triumph woven throughout the song brings the listener a sense of accomplishment, that the ordeal is over.
