Buy Now
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
Aug 18, 2023Hozier sounds like what you might get if the late, lamented Jeff Buckley had thrown his lot in with Radiohead to conjure up folk music from the dark side of the moon.
-
Aug 17, 2023From the folk twang of “First Time” to the torrential clapping on “Anything But,” this is a Hozier album to the hilt: considered, earnest, and moving.
-
Aug 17, 2023Unreal Unearth is packed full of poetic lyricism, heavyhearted remorse, hopeful anticipation and an honest expression of the joys and sorrow of being a human. This is undoubtedly his best work. The more straightforward tracks may be too saccharine at times, but Hozier’s gravitational artistry more than makes up for any slight missteps off the path.
-
Aug 21, 2023Strengths lie in Eat Your Young’s supple funk, a light-footed take on Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal, and the itchy urgency of De Selby (Part 2). There’s a chilling, unforgettable beauty to closing pair Unknown/Nth and First Light.
-
Aug 18, 2023An incredibly engaging and somewhat out-of-body listening experience.
-
Aug 17, 2023A decade after "Take Me to Church," Unreal Unearth's muscular production and defined vision proves Hozier's maturity as an artist, complete with his usual employment of religious imagery. He doesn't shy away from the darkest parts of the human condition, but he isn't afraid of having a little existential fun either.
-
MojoAug 17, 2023Hozier's audacity can feel outsized and overbearing, but his tandem of earnestness and eccentricity here is more winning than not. [Sep 2023, p.91]
-
Aug 17, 2023Hozier’s far-reaching vocal range is on full display on Unreal Unearth – as an artist, he possesses that enviable fearlessness when it comes to being earnest. At times, the gospel overtones in the album reach cinematic scope. In places, this orchestral breadth comes off as over-produced, in a departure from the intimate honesty we've come to expect of Hozier.
-
Aug 17, 2023Hozier’s vocal abilities are on full display across ‘Unreal Unearth,’ but much like the album’s instrumentals, it’s his understanding of when to give more understated performances, as on gentle ‘I, Carrion (Icarian)’ or to go full-force, like on the end of pared-back ‘Unknown/Nth’, that make the songs triumph.
-
Aug 17, 2023Hozier doesn’t just succeed in exploring that dark emotional world; his painful ascent makes the listener immediately want to climb with him. Even harder, he successfully delivers a third album that doesn’t shy away from any topic, even when he doesn’t have the answers. Hozier isn’t just growing as an artist, he’s being reborn.
-
UncutAug 17, 2023"De Selby Part 2" shows he can stylishly bring funk and R&B influences to bear. But most distinctive are the afrobeat touches that lace "damage Gets Done" and "Anything But". [Oct 2023, p.29]
-
Aug 25, 2023A bevy of producers, highlighted by Jennifer Decilveo (Bat for Lashes, Anne-Marie) and Daniel Tannenbaum (Kendrick Lamar), do admirable, evocative work, but the songs and feeling get lost under the layers of sound, particularly at the album's hour-long running time.
-
Aug 22, 2023As it is, Hozier’s third album is a album that is simply a bit too sprawling. It’s certainly great in parts, and that voice never fails to impress, but it becomes a bit too bloated to listen to in full over time.
-
Aug 25, 2023Hozier calls the album’s sound “eclectic,” but disjointed is more apt.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 28 out of 31
-
Mixed: 1 out of 31
-
Negative: 2 out of 31
-
Sep 11, 2023Unlike popular belief, I find hozier's new adventure into collaboration to be a success
-
Aug 25, 2023
-
Aug 25, 2023it has been a week and i cant stop listening to it! a very good album! i don’t need to explain any further it’s hozier.