Eat Your Young – Hozier
★★★★★
In the leadup to his highly anticipated third album, Hozier released a trio of singles as the EP Eat Your Young. The songs explore ideas of social unrest, love, and loss, all within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Between Hozier’s signature indie-folk sound, and his elegant lyricism, this EP is a phenomenal insight into what we can expect from his upcoming album.
“Eat Your Young,” the EP’s title track, is a moody, sensual song. Simultaneously, it is an ironic social critique of capitalism through Ireland’s political history. The song explores the faults of a capitalistic society through the metaphor of eating children. It highlights the extremes the world pushes people to in order for them to gain riches. However, this is not just a random metaphor. In an unsurprising use of genius lyricism, Hozier uses “A Modest Proposal” (read here) as inspiration. Written by Jonathan Swift, this short essay is a political critique of Irish society in the eighteenth century. It’s use of the phrase “eat your young” is one of the best and most famous examples of sustained irony in English literature. It is this text that Hozier derives his metaphor from. By doing so, the political criticism of the song becomes even more important.
The song itself is very sensual in sound. Heavy bass lines and high-pitch background vocals drive the rhythm. Hozier’s light, raspy voice provides a subtle contrast to the heaviness of the instrumentals. The sexual nature inherent to many of the lyrics highlights the absurdity of society—because are we really talking about sex in a song about eating kids?
“All Things End” has a gospel-like quality that begs to be paid attention to. The song explores the finality and inevitability of death as the end of all things. Hozier speaks to the truth that “all things end” in some way or another. He states that anyone who gets through life with their heart in tact “didn’t do it right.” These words hold an air of careless freedom, as if the thought of the end gives him the ability and recklessness to live a fulfilling life. His soaring vocals and powerful choruses seem to second this notion.
“Through Me (The Flood)” brings us back to the stomp and holler songs that we know and love from Hozier. The song seems to continue the sentiments of recklessness and freedom from the preceding song. He remarks that any time he struggled he’d realize that the world “flows through [him].” It speaks of a powerful and calming connection to the Earth itself. Hozier replicates this in the driving buildup and intense release between the verses and chorus. And, as always, his rasping, thick vocals feel a bit like a blanket being washed over you.
This EP was a phenomenal addition to Hozier’s discography. His ability to discuss poignant societal issues while also creating a sonically beautiful work speaks to his musical genius. His work never fails to leave me breathless in the best possible way. I cannot wait to see what his upcoming album has in store because if this EP is anything to go by, the album is going to be breathtaking, heartbreaking, and (probably) mind-blowing.