Hozier reckons that the message in his breakthrough song Take Me To Church is "more applicable now" than when it was first released a decade ago.
The Bray singer/songwriter was a guest on Friday night’s Late Late Show and performed a new song Eat Your Young as well as having a chinwag with host - and fan - Ryan Tubridy.
At the top of the show, Ryan described Hozier as "One of the nicest guys" in music. The Late Late Show had begun much later than usual, due to US President Joe Biden's visit to Mayo, but it didn’t dampen the audience’s enthusiasm.
"The first time I met him I was mesmerised by his talent," Ryan recalled, before Hozier came out to a rapturous reception.
They spoke about his first hit, Take Me To Church. which - to Ryan’s amazement - was released all of ten years ago. "I was very proud when I wrote it," Hozier said, before Ryan mentioned the video that accompanied the tune. "It came out swinging," Ryan reckoned.
"I suppose there was a kind of freedom that came with that song," the singer recalled. "It was the first song I released, and I had no audience . . . so there was never any consideration of, 'I wonder how people will respond to this?’
"I never thought it would be a hit, but at the time there were these anti-gay laws in Russia and the video focused very much on that.
"And I was thinking that culturally we live in a pretty borderless world and it’s very possible that something like that, with anti-gay, anti-LGBT sentiments could cross borders.
"It’s funny reflecting on that ten years later. It’s more applicable."
Ryan then wondered about Hozier’s desire to make his musical political. "I don’t think you can make art without there being a political dimension to it," the singer insisted.
"I don’t believe you can. We tend to think of politics that wears a suit and tie and sits in a government building and waffles on, and engages in party politics.
"But to me, anything that's political just concerns the story of who we are. And our experience of living.
"So, a song about going out on Saturday night and having a good time in a bar with your friends has loads of political dimensions . . . I think all things are political, or have a political dimension."
Ryan then asked him if there was "anything in particular that’s bothering you" and Hozier laughed. "For me, I’m still figuring out the limitations or the pitfalls. It’s not that I write specifically with the view of ‘Oh, I must create something political’, it’s just that generally what filters through are things that might upset me or annoy me, or that people deserve better."
Hozier also talked to Ryan about going to and recording in Nashville, the Mecca of country music.
"It was wonderful," he said. "The people are so warm and so welcoming. The standard of musicianship is incredibly high. And the people are so incredibly down to earth even though there’s a staggering amount of talent.
"And also the craft. The equal respect for the songwriting craft as an art form is really, really rich there. I had a really good time."
The Late Late Show, Fridays on RTÉ One
