Hozier credits being from Ireland as the key to keeping his feet on the ground

Sunday World

20-05-2025

Ten years on from Take Me To Church making him a star, Hozier is re-releasing his hit self-titled album on vinyl.
Irish pop superstar Hozier is marking the 10th anniversary of his hit self-titled album that featured Take Me To Church and put him on the world around the world with a new vinyl release.
It comes after a spectacular year that saw Wicklow man Hozier top charts across the globe, including America, with his Too Sweet single.
Alongside the vinyl release comes a brand new remix of his song, Like Real People Do featuring NATURE.
Hozier's track is part of the Sounds Right project, a collaboration with the Museum for the United Nations – UN Live, which aims to showcase nature itself as an artist.
Sounds Right is a global music initiative to recognise the value of nature and inspire millions of fans to take environmental action.
By streaming or listening to the song, listeners will be contributing 50 per cent of the royalties to frontline conservation in the world's most precious and precarious ecosystems.
Hozier's track is part of the Sounds Right project.
Since NATURE was launched as an official artist last year, millions have listened and directed real funding to communities protecting the planet's most vital ecosystems.
The nature sounds that add an element of magic to the new version of Like Real People Do were recorded in Hozier's native Co Wicklow.
'It features bird song, cricket song, rain fall and thunder of my beloved home of Wicklow,' Hozier says.
By infusing the hauntingly beautiful folk tones with the ethereal sounds of nature, the collaboration creates a stunning version of the Hozier fan favourite.
Talking about the vinyl release of his debut album, Hozier, who will play this year's Electric Picnic on Friday, August 29, says: 'It's an album that very much changed my life and it's the reason that we're still playing around the world to this day.
Looking back on the success of Take Me To Church, Hozier admits he never expected it to become such a global phenomenon.
'I was always proud of Take Me To Church and excited about it because I managed to get all these ideas into the song,' Hozier says.
'But I certainly didn't see it as a Top 10 hit. I thought maybe people would like it or appreciate it and that's what you hope for.'
Hozier, who wrote Take Me To Church in the attic of his family home in Greystones, ended up getting a Grammy nomination for the track.
'All of a sudden, your name is next to somebody like Taylor Swift or Ed Sheeran,' he says. 'Initially, that is as surreal as anyone could think because they are such distant, intangible icons.'
When asked by Magazine+ how he felt about the term Superstar now in front of his name, Hozier laughed: 'It's a bit of an odd term. There's a great myth about stardom or fame because you don't feel any different, you're just very, very busy.
'I didn't buy into it. I didn't internalise it, and I think that's really the trick. I think there's a real mistake you can make beliveing your own hype and your own bullsh*t. You have to keep a distance between yourself and the smoke that people are tyring to blow up your ass.'
Coming from a normal Irish background has helped him to keep his feet on the ground, he says.
Hozier told me: 'I think, if nothing else, what the Irish are good at is maintaining normality and keeping our heads.
'You are not allowed to get carried away with the whole thing, especially if you have close Irish friends around you.
'Everyone tears lumps out of each other. We slag each other off and have a great laugh. I think that disrespect for everything is a healthy Irish trait.'
He's got a great sense of humour and when asked about the fact that he's had the odd bra thrown up on stage during his live performances, Hozier quipped: 'I'd rather a bra than a brick.'