IN DEMAND: “It’s been quite a year for me,” says the 24-year-old. “Few people outside Ireland had even heard of me this time last year. I don’t think I’d have believed them if anyone had told me what would happen during 2014.” Photo by: Neon Tommy/Katie Buenneke
By Geoffrey Rowlands
It was back in early June that a smaller item in this column pointed readers towards the work of Irish singer/songwriter Andrew Hozier-Byrne. Known simply as Hozier, he had just issued a new single, Sedated, but was being promoted on the international market with his first release, Take me to Church.
Appearances on prestigious American television programmes such as The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Saturday Night Live and The Late Show With David Letterman certainly paid dividends. Take me to Church is currently in the top ten on Billboard’s Hot 100 while Hozier’s recently released self-titled debut album stormed straight to second spot on the Billboard 200 and hit number one on both the Folk Albums chart and Top Rock Albums chart.
“It’s been quite a year for me,” smiled the 24-year-old native of Bray, County Wicklow. “Few people outside Ireland had even heard of me this time last year. I don’t think I’d have believed them if anyone had told me what would happen during 2014.”
The son of a musician, Hozier studied for a degree in music at Trinity College, Dublin. But he quickly dropped out to sing with the internationally-acclaimed Irish choir Anuna. Combining classical, traditional and newly written modern pieces, Anuna are in demand to perform throughout the world.
Most former members can be found pursuing a career in classical or Celtic music. But Hozier followed his heart into the folk-rock genre.
“I’d been singing forever but only started to play music when I was 14,” he explained. “I picked up a guitar and kept trying to play it. I concentrated on folk and blues songs and eventually became good enough to feel like I could perform in public.
“I joined the college orchestra while I was at Trinity. I was the lead vocalist. That’s how I came to the attention of Anuna. But I actually dropped out of school with the original intention of writing and recording my own songs.”
His early attempts proved unsatisfactory.
“I worked with producers who pushed me in a pop direction. I always felt very uncomfortable with this. It was only after I eventually decided to record songs by myself on to a computer that I finally found a sound and style that I was happy with.
“I knew I’d have to re-record my songs in a studio and work with a producer. I wasn’t looking forward to that at all after my previous experiences. But I was lucky enough to be teamed with Rob Kirwan who just seemed to instinctively understand what I wanted and how my finished songs should sound.”
Take me to Church became a massive hit in Ireland. Two more singles, From Eden and Sedated, proved equally popular. But it is his debut release that has garnered attention on a worldwide scale.
“I’m immensely proud of Take me to Church. It was written at a time when love was uppermost in my thoughts. My first serious relationship had ended. I was thinking about the person I had been before I fell in love and how profoundly different I was afterwards.
“But I also thought about love and relationships in the wider sense. There can be so much discrimination and disapproval. I wanted to say that anyone should be free to fall in love with and marry whomever they choose. I think the success of Take me to Church suggests a lot of people agree.”
IN BRIEFS
Queen
Queen Forever is the British rock band’s appropriately titled new release. It is available as a 20-track single CD or 36-track two-CD deluxe set.
The album features a number of Queen’s most popular songs but essentially concentrates on showcasing some of their lesser known material plus three tracks which the band have never previously released.
Among the latter is lead single, Let Me In Your Heart Again. Written by Brian May and intended for inclusion on Queen’s 1984 album, “The Works,” the song was never completed. The finished version now sees the light of day and seems set to be hailed as a classic by the band’s fans. It is accompanied by a newly created video which can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWzeNnq1-rA
The album also includes There Must Be More To Life Than This, a duet between Queen and Michael Jackson. Originally written by Freddie Mercury for their 1982 album, “Hot Space,” the song was not used until Freddie recorded his own version for his 1985 debut solo album, “Mr. Bad Guy.”
Fans now have the chance to hear Freddie and Michael’s voices fused to Queen’s original backing track. The new version was produced and remixed by celebrated musician, songwriter and producer William Orbit, best known for his work with Blur, Robbie Williams and Madonna.
Outasight
Richard Andrew is probably an unknown name to most music fans. But the American singer and hip hop artist’s stage name, Outasight, could be a little more familiar.
He enjoyed a top 40 hit on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 2011 with his debut single, Tonight Is The Night. The song was used in numerous television commercials and Outasight also performed it at the 2012 National Hockey League All-Star Game in Ottawa, Canada.
Despite receiving all of this publicity, he failed to find a follow-up hit from the songs on his first album, “Nights Like These.” But Outasight is back now with a sophomore album, which will be issued early next year, and the lead single, Automatic, which has just been released.
His new single is the latest posting at (no www.) soundcloud.com/iamoutasight. Many more songs are available to hear on this webpage. Some can be downloaded for free.
No video has been made as yet for Automatic but the video for Tonight Is The Night can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxnFJG6CW20
Cheryl
The artist now known as Cheryl, formerly Cheryl Tweedy and Cheryl Cole, has made UK chart history. By debuting at number one with her song, I Don’t Care, the 31-year-old Newcastle-upon-Tyne native has become the first British female solo performer to register five chart-topping singles.
She had previously held pole position with Fight For This Love in 2009, Promise This the following year, Call My Name in 2012 and Crazy Stupid Love earlier this year. Cheryl was also part of five more UK chart-topping songs. Her former group, Girls Aloud, had four number ones and she sung on the Helping Haiti charity cover of REM’s Everybody Hurts.
Although she has now surpassed Geri Halliwell and Rita Ora in the rank of British female solo artists, Cheryl is nowhere near the record for UK chart-topping songs by a female artist of any nationality. This is held by Madonna with 13 number ones. She has also notched up top three spots with another 20 singles.
Geri Halliwell
Geri Halliwell is also in the news but not in any musical sense.
Fans of Formula One motor racing may have wondered about the former Spice Girl attending so many races this year. We now know why. The engagement has been announced between Geri and Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner.
Christian split from his partner of 14 years, Beverley Allen, early in 2014. Although he had known Geri for some time, they reportedly began dating last March.
