All songs on Hozier’s Wasteland, Baby! are sleepy in the best way possible. Even “Nobody,” one of the more upbeat songs on the album, gives the effect of trying to stay up past the point of being tired — you’re bopping along, you feel weight on your eyelids, but you’re feeling good regardless.
Although the album centres on mundane topics — love, heartbreak, etc. — it does so in a way that makes you feel as though you’re hearing about it for the first time. Hozier’s style is such that, even though he is quite alike to other songwriters, his are the songs that stick in your mind, while all others like it follow in his footsteps and get lost amid a sea of similarity.
Unfortunately, there’s no great distinction between Wasteland, Baby! and Hozier’s previous self-titled album. (“Almost (Sweet Music)” carries with it the sound of “Someone New,” from Hozier’s self-titled album.) But I will say that Hozier could sing about washing his socks and he’d still find a way to make it sensual. And that, my friend, takes talent.
