Andrew Hozier-Byrne, known as Hozier, is an Irish singer-songwriter whose career was launched by the popularity of his single “Take Me to Church.” He sings and writes folk songs, taking inspiration from other genres such as blues, gospel, and soul music. He currently has two albums out: the self-titled Hozier and Wasteland, Baby!, as well as a few singles and an upcoming album.
Hozier’s songs often deal with difficult topics, such as domestic violence in “Cherry Wine” and the oppression of women in “Swan Upon Leda.” He also uses vivid imagery in songs while still managing to perfectly convey a point, saying that he tries not to lean on “verbose phrases” and attempts to “cut right to the heart of the sentiment.” In fact, Hozier has stated that his creative process starts with figuring out what idea he wants to convey, then coming up with lyrics that convey that feeling. He said that the feeling is encompassed in a single line, then a melody and song is fleshed out from that one line. Other times, old lyrics are added to a new melody. Once he has lyrics, he says writing is usually a “slow process of repetition, shaving off any words that feel they don’t fit or make a verse clumsy.” This is an example of combining divergent and convergent thinking as seen in the Geneplore model, where ideas are generated and then explored or narrowed down over and over again until a final product is produced.
He also wrote a lot while on tour and said that he had a phone full of voice memos due to being exposed to new experiences while on tour. He said that during the six months after the tour, there was a “period of writing and demoing… which was a bit of a blur for me.” This describes a flow state that many creatives experience.
Some of my favorite Hozier songs:
https://americansongwriter.com/writer-week-hozier/
I've always loved hozier's music and it is really interesting to learn about his creative process and the way makes lyrics around what he is feeling.
ReplyDeleteI have also always loved his music. I feel like there is some sort of generational melancholy between Irish people that allows them to create such emotional works.
ReplyDeleteHearing that Hozier makes multiple revisions to his creative process makes it cleat that creativity is not always simply from point A to B. I like the idea that the whole song comes from a single line, meaning that that one line can have so much meaning behind it.
ReplyDeleteHozier's music is so beautiful, and I often find myself listening to his songs over and over again and finding new meaning in them each time. That's likely a result of the process you described: his going over each and every lyric to make sure the song is as precise as it possibly can be. There's so much depth to his music, and I loved reading your post and learning more about his process.
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