Unreal Unearth
Studio album by
Hozier
Released18 August 2023 (2023-08-18)
Length62:22
Label
Producer
Hozier chronology
Eat Your Young
(2023)		 Unreal Unearth
(2023)
Singles from Unreal Unearth
  1. "Eat Your Young"
    Released: 17 March 2023
  2. "All Things End"
    Released: 27 April 2023
  3. "Francesca"
    Released: 19 May 2023[1]
  4. "Unknown / Nth"
    Released: 23 June 2023[2]
  5. "De Selby (Part 2)"
    Released: 21 July 2023

Unreal Unearth is the third studio album by Irish musician Hozier, released on 18 August 2023. It contains the singles "Eat Your Young" and "Francesca", along with the song "All Things End".[1] Hozier is on a tour of Ireland, the UK and North America in support of the record from June to December 2023.[3] The album received generally positive reviews from critics, and debuted at number one on the Irish and UK charts.

Background

Hozier wrote the album during the COVID-19 pandemic and stated it was his way of "mak[ing] sense of the experience of the last two years". It was inspired by Dante's Inferno, which he began reading at the time; he framed the album around Dante's concept of the nine circles of Hell. He called the album "quite eclectic" and stated that there is "something of a retrospective in what the sounds lean into". He also said that the three tracks on the preceding Eat Your Young EP were "not representative of the entire album".[4]

The album features Hozier writing and singing lyrics in the Irish language for the first time.[5] In an interview with The Irish Times, he said "there's so much that cannot be expressed outside of that language, that language can express that we're unaware of".[6] The track "Butchered Tongue" refers to attempts by the British administration to destroy the Irish language through colonialism.[7]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.6/10[8]
Metacritic76/100[9]
Review scores
SourceRating
Exclaim!8/10[10]
The Line of Best Fit9/10[11]
Mojo[12]
NME[13]
Paste8.2/10[14]
Pitchfork5.0/10[15]
The Skinny[16]
Uncut7/10[17]

Unreal Unearth received a score of 76 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on 14 critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reception.[9] Caitlin Chatterton of The Line of Best Fit found that "as well as uplifting Irish culture, the album is keen to demonstrate that Hozier is well versed in the classics" and concluded that "from the folk twang of 'First Time' to the torrential clapping on 'Anything But', this is a Hozier album to the hilt: considered, earnest, and moving".[11] Rho Chung of The Skinny remarked that "Hozier's far-reaching vocal range is on full display" on the album, which Chung called "an eclectic and meandering meditation on love at a time in which our continued existence often feels at odds with the planet's".[16]

CT Jones of Rolling Stone stated that "Hozier doesn't just succeed in exploring that dark emotional world; his painful ascent makes the listener immediately want to climb with him. Even harder, he successfully delivers a third album that doesn't shy away from any topic, even when he doesn't have the answers."[18] Maddison Ryan of Exclaim! described the album as "a journey" that "even without prior knowledge of the album's roots in classic literature, it feels part of a greater mythology", ultimately calling it "the kind of music that people can escape into; the soundtrack to feelings not even Heaven can hold".[10]

Aliya Chaudhry of NME remarked that Unreal Unearth "traverses a variety of styles from softer piano ballads like 'Butchered Tongue' to up-tempo folk-pop 'Anything But' and fuzzy-guitar rock stomp 'Francesca'", making the album "a product of going where the song takes you".[13] Uncut complimented tracks as well, writing that "'De Selby Part 2' shows he can stylishly bring funk and R&B influences to bear. But most distinctive are the Afrobeat touches that lace 'Damage Gets Done' and 'Anything But'".[17]

Sam Eeckhout of Paste stated that the album is "packed full of poetic lyricism, heavyhearted remorse, hopeful anticipation and an honest expression of the joys and sorrow of being a human" and has "a sharp balance" that makes it "never top-heavy" nor "ever stagnant".[14] Mojo wrote that "Hozier's audacity can feel outsized and overbearing, but his tandem of earnestness and eccentricity here is more winning than not".[12] Pitchfork's Peyton Thomas described the album as a "mishmash of mythology and past-date pop that leaves [Hozier] sounding like an interloper".[15]

Year-end lists

Select year-end rankings of Unreal Unearth
Publication Accolade Rank Ref.
The A.V. Club The 27 Best Albums of 2023 22
The Daily Telegraph The 10 Best Albums of 2023 9
American Songwriter American Songwriter’s Top 17 Albums of 2023 —
Billboard The 50 Best Albums of 2023: Staff List 27
HuffPost The Best Albums Of 2023 —
Esquire The 20 Best Albums of 2023 3

Track listing

Unreal Unearth track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."De Selby (Part 1)"Andrew Hozier-Byrne
3:39
2."De Selby (Part 2)"
  • Sergiu Gherman
  • Bekon
  • Chakra
  • Pete G
  • Gitelman
  • Hozier-Byrne
  • Marius Feder[a]
3:47
3."First Time"
  • Alex Ryan
  • Hozier-Byrne
  • Gitelman
  • Gitelman
  • Hozier-Byrne
3:53
4."Francesca"
  • Hozier-Byrne
  • Decilveo
4:30
5."I, Carrion (Icarian)"
  • Hozier-Byrne
  • Decilveo
  • Hozier-Byrne
  • Decilveo
3:16
6."Eat Your Young"
  • Hozier-Byrne
  • Tannenbaum
  • Craig Balmoris
  • Krieger
  • Marius Fedor
  • Gonzales
  • Gherman
  • Stuart Johnson
  • Tyler Mehlenbacher
  • Gherman
  • Bekon
  • Pete G
  • Chakra
  • Hozier-Byrne
4:02
7."Damage Gets Done" (with Brandi Carlile)
  • Hozier-Byrne
  • Krieger
  • Tannenbaum
  • Gonzales
  • Gherman
  • Johnson
  • Mehlenbacher
  • Gherman
  • Bekon
  • Pete G
  • Chakra
  • Feder[a]
  • Sariah Mae[a]
4:28
8."Who We Are"
  • Hozier-Byrne
  • Krieger
  • Tannenbaum
  • Gonzales
  • Gherman
  • Gherman
  • Bekon
  • Pete G
  • Chakra
4:05
9."Son of Nyx"
  • Ryan
  • Hozier-Byrne
  • Tannenbaum
  • Bekon
  • Pete G
3:19
10."All Things End"
  • Hozier-Byrne
  • Krieger
  • Gonzales
  • Gherman
  • Tannenbaum
  • Johnson
  • Gherman
  • Bekon
  • Pete G
  • Chakra
  • Feder[a]
3:33
11."To Someone from a Warm Climate (Uiscefhuaraithe)"
  • Hozier-Byrne
  • Gitelman
  • Hozier-Byrne
  • Gitelman
4:00
12."Butchered Tongue"Hozier-Byrne
  • Decilveo
  • Hozier-Byrne
2:29
13."Anything But"
  • Hozier-Byrne
  • Krieger
  • Tannenbaum
  • Fedor
  • Gonzales
  • Gherman
  • Johnson
  • Gherman
  • Bekon
  • Pete G
  • Chakra
3:45
14."Abstract (Psychopomp)"
  • Hozier-Byrne
  • Balmoris
  • Krieger
  • Tannenbaum
  • Gonzales
  • Gherman
  • Johnson
  • Mehlenbacher
  • Gherman
  • Mehlenbacher
  • Bekon
  • Balmoris
  • Pete G
  • Chakra
4:04
15."Unknown / Nth"Hozier-Byrne
  • Hozier-Byrne
  • Sean Cook[a]
4:40
16."First Light"
  • Hozier-Byrne
  • Balmoris
  • Krieger
  • Tannenbaum
  • Gonzales
  • Gherman
  • Johnson
  • Mehlenbacher
  • Balmoris
  • Gherman
  • Mehlenbacher
  • Bekon
  • Pete G
  • Chakra
  • Hozier-Byrne
  • Feder[a]
4:52
Total length:62:22

Note

  • ^[a] signifies an additional producer.

Personnel

Musicians

  • Andrew Hozier-Byrne – vocals (all tracks), melodica (track 3), guitar (4, 5, 12), all instruments (15)
  • Alex Ryan – bass guitar (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5), background vocals (3), keyboards (3), organ (4), piano (5, 12)
  • Sora – cello (1–3, 11)
  • Péter Illényi – conductor (1, 9, 16)
  • Stanley Randolph – drums (1–3)
  • Jeff Gitelman – synthesizer (1, 2, 11), electric guitar (1, 2), acoustic guitar (3), bass guitar (3), piano (11)
  • Peter Gonzales – synthesizer (1, 2, 7, 13, 14), background vocals (7), drum machine (7, 14), drums (8, 10, 13, 16), percussion (8, 10), programming (1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14), guitar (7, 14, 16)
  • Ginny Luke – violin (1–3, 11)
  • Budapest Scoring Orchestra – orchestra (1, 9, 16)
  • Jordan Seigel – orchestra (1, 9, 16)
  • Lisa McCormick – French horn (1, 2)
  • Huang Ming Xiang 黄民翔 – pipa (1)
  • Daniel Krieger – bass guitar (2, 6–8, 10, 13, 14, 16), guitar (6–8, 10, 14, 16), acoustic guitar (13)
  • Daniel Lim – cello (2, 6, 10)
  • Daniel Tannenbaum – keyboards (2, 7), strings (2, 6, 7, 9, 10, 14, 16), synthesizer (2, 6–8, 10, 13, 14, 16), background vocals (6, 13, 16), organ (6), piano (8, 10, 14, 16), clapping (13)
  • Stuart Johnson – percussion (2, 8, 10), drums (6–8, 10, 14, 16), programming (8, 10, 14)
  • Sergiu Gherman – programming (2, 7, 8, 10, 13, 14), keyboards (8), clapping (13), drum machine (16)
  • The Whole Soul Strings – strings (2, 6, 10)
  • Drew Alexander Forde – viola (2, 6, 10)
  • Andrew Kwon – violin (2, 6, 10)
  • Haesol Lee – violin (2, 6, 10)
  • Dominique Sanders – bass guitar (3, 11)
  • Jennifer Decilveo – drum machine, piano, programming, synthesizer (4, 5, 12)
  • Sam KS – drums (4, 5, 12)
  • David Levita – guitar (4, 5, 12)
  • Aretha Scruggs – choir (6, 10)
  • Charles Jones – choir (6, 10)
  • Danielle Withers – choir (6, 10)
  • David Simmonds – choir (6, 10)
  • Fletcher Sheridan – choir (6, 10)
  • Gregory Fletcher – choir (6, 10)
  • Kadeem Nichols – choir (6, 10)
  • Nayanna Holley – choir (6, 10)
  • Tony Scruggs – choir (6, 10)
  • Craig Balmoris – drum machine (6, 16)
  • Marius Feder – synthesizer (6), clapping (13)
  • Brandi Carlile – vocals (7)

Technical

  • Greg Calbi – mastering
  • Steve Fallone – mastering (1–3, 5–16)
  • Zach Szydlo – mastering (1–3, 5–14, 16)
  • David Levita – mastering (4)
  • Andrew Scheps – mixing
  • Pete G – mixing (1, 9, 10, 13)
  • Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing (2, 7, 16)
  • Shawn Everett – mixing (3)
  • Tom Elmhirst – mixing (6, 8, 14)
  • Jeff Gitelman – engineering (1–3, 11
  • RJ Cardenas – engineering (1–3, 11
  • Viktor Szabó – engineering (1, 9, 16)
  • Jennifer Decilveo – engineering (4, 5, 12)
  • Nick Squillante – engineering (4, 5, 12)
  • Sean Cook – engineering (4, 5, 12, 15), vocal engineering (6–8, 10, 13, 14, 16)
  • Adam Hong – engineering (6, 8, 14)
  • Matt Anthony – engineering (6, 10, 14, 16)
  • Logan Taylor – engineering (8, 10, 13), engineering assistance (6, 14, 16)
  • Wil Anspach – engineering (10)
  • Daniel Krieger – vocal engineering (6–8, 10, 13, 14, 16)
  • Kieran Beardmore – engineering assistance (1, 7, 16)
  • Liam O'Dowd – engineering assistance (1, 7, 16)
  • Matt Wolach – engineering assistance (1, 7, 16)
  • Greg Truitt – engineering assistance (8, 10, 13)

Charts

References

  1. 1 2 Gregory, Elizabeth (19 May 2023). "Hozier announces release date for new album Unreal Unearth". Evening Standard. Retrieved 26 May 2023 – via Yahoo!.
  2. ↑ "Cry Club, Hozier, Kee'ahn & More: This Week's Best New Music". The Music. 23 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  3. ↑ Stickler, Jon (19 May 2023). "Hozier Teases Unreal Unearth LP With New Single Francesca". Stereoboard. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  4. ↑ Reilly, Nick (17 March 2023). "Hozier on new EP Eat Your Young and how Dante's Inferno inspired him". Rolling Stone UK. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  5. ↑ Clayton-Lea, Tony (2 August 2023). "Hozier's new album, Unreal Unearth, track-by-track review: Powerful songs that ebb and flow". The Irish Times. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  6. ↑ Mullally, Una (19 August 2023). "Hozier: 'This album was actually more not trying to be the control freak'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  7. ↑ Power, Ed (18 August 2023). "Album review: Unreal Unearth is Hozier's finest record yet and has breathtaking moments". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  8. ↑ "Unreal Unearth by Hozier reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  9. 1 2 "Unreal Unearth by Hozier Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  10. 1 2 Ryan, Maddison (17 August 2023). "Hozier's Unreal Unearth Is Music to Escape Into". Exclaim!. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  11. 1 2 Chatterton, Caitlin (14 August 2023). "Hozier: Unreal Unearth review – a characteristically charming third instalment". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  12. 1 2 "Hozier – Unreal Unearth". Mojo. September 2023. p. 91.
  13. 1 2 Chaudhry, Aliya (17 August 2023). "Hozier – Unreal Unearth review: Epic, expansive and ethereal". NME. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  14. 1 2 Eeckhout, Sam (17 August 2023). "On Unreal Unearth, Hozier Makes His Boldest Work Yet". Paste. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  15. 1 2 Thomas, Peyton (25 August 2023). "Hozier: Unreal Unearth Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  16. 1 2 Chung, Rho (14 August 2023). "Hozier album review: Unreal Unearth". The Skinny. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  17. 1 2 "Hozier – Unreal Unearth". Uncut. October 2023. p. 29.
  18. ↑ Jones, CT (17 August 2023). "Hozier Goes Through Hell and Tastes Ecstasy on Unreal Unearth". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  19. ↑ "The 27 best albums of 2023". The A.V. Club. 13 December 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  20. ↑ "The 10 best albums of 2023". The Daily Telegraph. 27 December 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  21. ↑ "American Songwriter's Top 17 Albums of 2023". The A.V. Club. 22 December 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  22. ↑ "The 50 Best Albums of 2023: Staff List". Billboard. 6 December 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  23. ↑ "The Best Albums Of 2023". HuffPost. 13 December 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  24. ↑ "The 20 Best Albums of 2023". Esquire. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  25. ↑ "ARIA Top 50 Albums Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. 28 August 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  26. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Hozier – Unreal Unearth" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  27. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Hozier – Unreal Unearth" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  28. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Hozier – Unreal Unearth" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  29. ↑ "Hozier Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  30. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Hozier – Unreal Unearth" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  31. ↑ "Hozier: Unreal Unearth" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  32. ↑ "Top Singles (Week 34, 2023)". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  33. ↑ "Chartupdate ALBUM +++". GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  34. ↑ "Tónlistinn – Plötur – Vika 34 – 2023" [The Music – Albums – Week 34 – 2023] (in Icelandic). Plötutíðindi. Archived from the original on 26 August 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  35. ↑ "Official Irish Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  36. ↑ "2023 34-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. 25 August 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  37. ↑ "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 28 August 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  38. ↑ "Album 2023 uke 34". VG-lista. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  39. ↑ "OLiS - oficjalna lista sprzedaży - albumy" (in Polish). OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Note: Change the date to 18.08.2023–24.08.2023 under "zmień zakres od–do:". Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  40. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  41. ↑ "Top 100 Albums Weekly". El portal de Música. Promusicae. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  42. ↑ "Veckolista Album, vecka 34". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  43. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Hozier – Unreal Unearth". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  44. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  45. ↑ "Hozier Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  46. ↑ "Hozier Chart History (Top Americana/Folk Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  47. ↑ "Hozier Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  48. ↑ "Hozier Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  49. ↑ Griffiths, George (3 January 2024). "The Official Top 20 biggest cassettes of 2023". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
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