{"id":2212688,"date":"2024-04-04T03:30:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-04T07:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hoziers-inferno-inspired-ep-goes-through-hell-and-back-but-still-rejects-redemption\/"},"modified":"2024-04-04T03:30:26","modified_gmt":"2024-04-04T07:30:26","slug":"hoziers-inferno-inspired-ep-goes-through-hell-and-back-but-still-rejects-redemption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hoziers-inferno-inspired-ep-goes-through-hell-and-back-but-still-rejects-redemption\/","title":{"rendered":"Hozier&#8217;s EP &#8220;Inferno&#8221; embarks on a harrowing journey but shuns redemption"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhoziers-inferno-inspired-ep-goes-through-hell-and-back-but-still-rejects-redemption%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2212688&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Hozier&#8217;s latest album and EP, &#8220;Unheard,&#8221; draws inspiration from Dante&#8217;s &#8220;Inferno,&#8221; exploring themes of human\u200c struggles and redemption. The album navigates through Dante&#8217;s nine circles of hell, portraying \u200cvarious human vices and struggles. Each song encapsulates a different aspect of the human experience, blending \u200bpoetic lyrics with captivating melodies. Through this musical journey, \u200dHozier shares intimate reflections on life and spirituality.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>Hozier, the singer most famous for criticizing the Christian tradition in his 2013 song \u201cTake Me to Church,\u201d depended on Dante\u2019s \u201cInferno\u201d as the inspiration for his 2023 album and most recent EP, \u201cUnheard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Released in March, \u201cUnheard\u201d features four songs intended for Hozier\u2019s third studio album, \u201cUnreal Unearth.\u201d Using Dante\u2019s epic poem about his journey through hell as a framework for the album, Hozier describes the cyclical nature of human beings as we experience grief and loss and attempt to recover. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-605305682\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-2674b68e006c41113822e4978110aba9 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-2674b68e006c41113822e4978110aba9\"><\/div>\n<p>This album contains relatable songs for listeners in every stage of life and reveals some of Hozier\u2019s intimacies to which the public often isn\u2019t privy. But the most interesting revelation is Hozier\u2019s theology, especially when considered alongside its influential source material.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe poem is a few centuries old; it\u2019s a very significant piece of literature,\u201d Hozier told Apple Music\u2019s Zane Lowe in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=y5JpgNIkOz4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">an interview<\/a>. \u201cIf you live long enough in this world, you will pass through your own hell realm, and you will come out the other side. And I think all of us do that in our own ways.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dante\u2019s poem is most famous for organizing hell into nine circles, each of which represents a different sin: limbo, lust, gluttony, greed, anger, heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. As Dante travels through these nine layers of hell, he meets individuals facing punishments for the sins they committed during their lifetimes.<\/p>\n<p>Hozier\u2019s album works its way through the scenes of Dante\u2019s \u201cInferno,\u201d telling stories and sharing the mindsets of those who fall into those sins. While the album is a masterful work of poetic lyrics mixed with captivating melodies and evolving genres, the artist\u2019s EP is the perfect bite-sized version. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-8a2844d28bebd1216275597d52366e1e fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-8a2844d28bebd1216275597d52366e1e\"><\/div>\n<p>\u201cToo Sweet,\u201d the first song on \u201cUnheard,\u201d takes an honest look at our desire to feed our gluttonous nature while we have the chance. Kicking off with a strong bassline and kick drums, Hozier embraces a grunge style that complements his lyrics of rejecting the right way to live. <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>You treat your mouth as if it\u2019s heaven\u2019s gate<br \/>The rest of you like you\u2019re the TSA \u2026<br \/>I\u2019d rather take my whiskey neat <br \/>My coffee black and my bed at three<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Hozier compares gluttony and abstinence throughout the piece, singing about how he might as well engage in drunk and lethargic behaviors while he can. Especially because abstinence and heaven\u2019s gate are like the TSA \u2014 they possess unachievable and arbitrary standards meant to keep people away. <\/p>\n<p>This leads into the next song on the EP, \u201cWildflower and Barley,\u201d which describes the first circle of hell: the state of limbo. In his \u201cInferno,\u201d Dante describes limbo as a place for those who lived good lives but were not baptized or did not believe in Jesus. These individuals live together in a castle but are neither here nor there \u2014 they don\u2019t suffer in hell but also don\u2019t thrive in heaven. <\/p>\n<p>We all went through some form of \u201climbo\u201d during Covid-19 lockdowns, a theme Hozier wanted to express through this album.\u00a0As he explained to Lowe: \u201cHere\u2019s a journey that I felt was worth crediting in the last three years that I think all of us experienced in one way or another.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-c36d183ce85972e908a34706cd2f65b5 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-c36d183ce85972e908a34706cd2f65b5\"><\/div>\n<p>During the lockdown, it was common to wait at home in a seeming state of in-between. We could no longer work and play the way we were used to, but we were unable to step into the future and resume normal life because government mandates and quarantines kept us all at a standstill. Yet as Hozier considers this in-between state, he communicates to his audience that their entire lives of work and striving can simply lead to nothing. <\/p>\n<p>Not wanting to be forgotten or live for nothing, Hozier describes how man takes life into his own hands through his track \u201cEmpire Now.\u201d With a beat resembling war drums that rise in intensity as the song progresses, \u201cEmpire Now\u201d tells the story of the rise and fall of imperialism. The Irish singer writes how his ancestors could only dream of a world like ours today. <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>Sun comin\u2019 up on a dream come around <br \/>One hundred years from the empire now<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Relying on his skillful falsetto, the singer seems to reference his Irish heritage, specifically focusing on the state of his home country 100 years ago. This harks back to the violence of past civilizations before martyrs shook the foundations of how we live. <\/p>\n<p>With this hope, Hozier leads into the final song of the EP, \u201cFare Well,\u201d which at first glance would appear to be a goodbye to the hell through which he leads his listeners. The song features a light melody, but when you pay close attention to the lyrics, Hozier\u2019s outlook on the human condition becomes clear:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>Joy, disaster, come unbound here <br \/>I\u2019ll deny me none while I\u2019m allowed <br \/>With all things above the ground<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Even after rising from terrible experiences, Hozier admits he won\u2019t reject his vices or the sins that led him to these layers of hell in the first place. Once he\u2019s out, he will just re-engage in the sins and behaviors he did before. <\/p>\n<p>In his interview with Apple Music, Hozier describes human nature, like the layers of hell, as cyclical. He believes man walks through difficult experiences and rises out of them, just to fall back into those struggles. <\/p>\n<p>For writing an album based on part one of Dante\u2019s <em>Divine Comedy<\/em>, Hozier seems to miss the rest: the poems \u201cPurgatorio\u201d and \u201cParadiso.\u201d They show the hope of redemption and the life man can have after death. <\/p>\n<p>Thus Hozier gets it wrong. Life does not have to be one large cycle. We can learn from the vices that lead us through trials and come out changed on the other side. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-18a64627165ae4e472f133f9c6653f8c fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-18a64627165ae4e472f133f9c6653f8c\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Known for critiquing Christian traditions in &#8220;Take Me to Church,&#8221; Hozier drew inspiration from Dante&#8217;s &#8220;Inferno&#8221; for his 2023 album and EP, &#8220;Unheard.&#8221; The EP dropped in March, containing four tracks slated for Hozier&#8217;s upcoming third album, &#8220;Unreal Unearth.&#8221; Dante&#8217;s work inspired Hozier&#8217;s musical journey, adding depth to his latest creations<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":870,"featured_media":2212689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Screenshot-2024-04-03-at-8.23.28%E2%80%AFPM.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2212688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Screenshot-2024-04-03-at-8.23.28%E2%80%AFPM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2212688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/870"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2212688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2212688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2212689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2212688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2212688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2212688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}