HOZIER – WORK SONG – LEAVES ME SPEECHLESS

hozier

A steady rythm, a simple melody, some subtle humming in the background: that’s all Hozier needs to orchestrate an utterly powerful anthem of passion.

I strongly believe that love is the only thing that death cannot break, something higher than human understanding that cannot be explained with any form of science or rational thinking. This upcoming irish singer-songwriter apparently thinks the same. In “Work Song”, he explores the links between the two extremes of life: love and death, which are empowered by his brilliant art of suggesting things without naming them.

“No grave can hold my body down, I’ll crawl home to her”

Another important aspect of this song to me, is the connection between the title “Work Song” and actual work songs, sung to get through the terribly hard days of work in the era of Afro-American slavery. He sounds like he is laboring for his love, as it is the only thing he looks forward to, thanks to the very simple rythm, which adds depth to the whole thing.

In a nutshell, Hozier describes the power of love with such a transcending edge: deeply moving and sincere.

THE TWO GALANTS // WE ARE UNDONE – WELL YOU SEEM PRETTY TOGETHER TO ME

Two Gallants - 2- Gallants

These 34 year old besties are a crazy fusion between rock and folk, critics comparing them to “Dylan covering The White Stripes”; and after The Throes (2004), What The Toll Tells (2006), The Scenery Of Farewell (2007), The Bloom And The Blight (2012), here comes their fabulous, dazzling new album We Are Undone.

Sounds burst out from all over the place, this anthology of incohesion is a roar into the boundless void of Rock and Roll. The Two Galants, Tyson Vogel and Adam Stephenson, who sound anything but gentleman-like, seem to be screaming farewell to their punk/blues past.

One of my personal favorites here, which plunges you straight into a boiling hot tub of a mesmerizing confusion, The Age Nocturne. It starts with some reverb/ overdrive lead, but that slight softness is slowly driven away by a heavy and crunchy strum, which is the perfect background to Adam Stephenson’s powerful choleric voice. A subtle crescendo that leaves you totally bewildered.

I’m actually getting high on these guys, on their art of fusing different genres and making it sound completely natural.