After a four-year hiatus of releasing nothing besides a single, Hozier has finally graced his fans with some new melodies. The EP, titled “Nina Cried Power,” includes four songs: “Nina Cried Power” featuring Mavis Staples, “NFWMB,” “Moment’s Silence (Common Tongue)” and “Shrike.”
Aside from his single “Better Love” for the “Tarzan” soundtrack, the artist hasn’t released new music since in 2014 on his first and only full album. This album, titled “Hozier,” includes 13 songs, including his hit single “Take Me To Church,” which spent 20 weeks at the top of Billboard’s chart of for rock songs.
Other songs that ranked well on the charts are “Someone New,” “Jackie and Wilson,” “Arsonist’s Lullabye” and “Work Song.”
“Nina Cried Power” is a strong combination of songs, some powerful while others are more heartfelt and gentle. The song “Nina Cried Power” starts the album off on a powerful note, continuing to build as it progresses.
The last song on the album, “Shrike,” definitely has a more somber tone than the other three tracks. Hozier sings of a shrike — a bird with a hooked and toothed bill that feeds on small birds and other animals — and about an ended relationship along with the person he was (and still seems to be) in love with.
The song starts out with the following lyrics: “I couldn’t utter my love when it counted/Ah, but I’m singing like a bird ‘bout it now/And I couldn’t whisper when you needed it shouted/Ah, but I’m singing like a bird, ‘bout it now.”
Hozier compares himself to a bird flying back to his love. He was unable to express his love during the relationship, but is able to explain how he feels now. But it’s too late.
In the chorus, he asks his lover to remember him as “a shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn.” According to Genius Lyrics, a shrike is “known for impaling its prey on thorns after killing it with its beak.”
Hozier wants to be known as the one who hurt his love, so that he will not do the same thing in another relationship. After he is “reborn,” or transforms his perspective, he is asking to be remembered as part of the journey, even though he hurt the person he loved.
Although fans are excited to hear the EP, many are already wondering when he will release more music. Hopefully a full album is in the near future.
