The 11 best Hozier songs

With the Irish singer-songwriter set to headline Reading & Leeds this summer, we’ve taken a walk back through his discography

Choosing a top 11 songs from any artist is always going to be a contentious job, but Hozier is one of those artists with such a consistent body of work that it’s hard for any list not to feel as if it has glaring omissions. Nonetheless, we’ve tried. The Irish singer boasts a discography packed with folklore, mythology, classic references and political commentary, but Hozier is more than just a well-read songwriter – his power to transform the complex into the digestible and disguise the highbrow behind the accessible is near to being unmatched. In honour of his headline slot at Rockstar Energy presents Reading & Leeds Festival this summer, we’ve ranked his top 11 tracks to date.

11. ‘All Things End’

(Unreal Earth, 2023)

Hozier’s Dante-inspired third studio album sees him take a journey through the nine circles of hell, with ‘All Things End’ standing for the sixth: Heresy. As Hozier accepts the finite nature of his relationship, he feels that loss of faith to be heretical – but he knows that it won’t stop him believing again in the future. Lyrically, it’s a fairly simple offering from the songwriter, but one of those rare tracks that doesn’t need to waste words to capture something complex. An understated, jazzy piano and a gospel chorus of voices make it a prayer for non-believers.

10. ‘Anything But’

(Unreal Earth, 2023)

Another standout from Unreal Unearth, ‘Anything But’ belongs to the circle of Fraud, a folky, up-tempo faux-love song that sees Hozier looking for a way out of a relationship. The track’s joyful production acts as a clever misdirection, as the speaker fakes contentment whilst secretly planning an escape. So much of Hozier’s songwriting rests on honest feeling and painful confession, and it’s fun to witness him turn the tables here, giving us lines that seem unobjectionable on the surface but are in reality quite brutal.

9. ‘Like Real People Do’

(Hozier, 2014)

One of Hozier’s skills is a writer is his ability to hide a thick dossier of influences in simple, accessible love songs. ‘Like Real People Do’ is a shining example of this, a fairy tale about a girl who discovers and revives an Irish bog body wrapped up inside an ode to new love. There’s something dark and magical at the heart of it that puts it comfortably in his top 10.

8. ‘Take Me To Church’

(Hozier, 2014)

Hozier’s debut single would have been a hit no matter when he released it, but it remains an astonishing way to kick off a career. Blending rock, soul, folk and gospel, the song relates sexuality and worship, innocuous enough to get extensive radio play but inherently political. Hozier celebrates sex and humanity whilst slyly condemning the religious bodies that seek to dictate to their congregations what is and isn’t natural.

7. ‘Wasteland, Baby!’

(Wasteland, Baby!, 2019)

The title track from Hozier’s second album, this gentle folk song reminds us that where love goes, violence follows, but that isn’t necessarily something to fear. Falling in love is an apocalyptic event for Hozier in that it rips his existing world apart, eventually giving way to something that promises far better. The words are beautiful, but it’s Hozier’s restrained, trembling vocal and one of his best guitar riffs that convey the real depth of feeling.

6. ‘Eat Your Young’

(Unreal Earth, 2023)

Dante and Jonathon Swift collide in this one – not the ingredients you’d expect for a fun, jazzy lead single, but deliciously stewed. ‘Eat Your Young’ sees Hozier welcome the world to a cannibalistic feast taking place in the third circle of hell, Gluttony, and cheerfully detail the chaos that we’re all about to descend into. Horrifying lyrically but a lot of fun musically, the track eventually gives way to an orchestral outro, with a piano and chamber choir taking up the melody over stirring strings.

5. ‘De Selby’ (Part 1)/(Part 2)

(Unreal Earth, 2023)

We’re cheating a bit – ‘De Selby (Part 1)’ and ‘De Selby (Part 2)’ are technically different songs, but played in succession they tell one stunning story about disappearing into the dark. The opener to Unreal Unearth, ‘De Selby (Part 1)’ muses on not being able to see a way forward, ending with a Gaeilge section that sees two lovers feeling for each other in the darkness, unsure where one ends and the other begins. In ‘De Selby (Part 2)’, a funk-rock offering that switches up the sonics completely, they accept the darkness that swallows them, ready to begin their journey through the nine circles of Hell. Not only does the two-part track perfectly set up the rest of the album, but it acts as a musical, mythological epic that showcases some of Hozier’s best storytelling.

4. ‘Would That I’

(Wasteland, Baby!, 2019)

That opening drum into that guitar riff… ‘Would That I’ is one of Hozier’s most sonically beautiful folk tracks, but it tells a sad story. The track chronicles a history of love lost, with each lover represented by a sheltering tree, ultimately consumed by flame as the singer burns his past relationships down and moves on to the next. It’s self-critical, but the central figure is a tragic one, who can never hold onto the beauty in front of him without causing destruction. Hozier’s vocal performance is stunning and the track’s production and orchestrations are some of his best.

3. ‘Jackie and Wilson’

(Hozier, 2014)

An ode to rhythm and blues legend Jackie Wilson, this track from Hozier’s debut album is one of his most straightforwardly joyful love songs. Although the relationship isn’t ultimately meant to last, with Hozier projecting a future onto what is ultimately just a fling, he still leaves us with the sense that the relationship has done him a lot of good. The song’s laidback folk rock sound is addictive and a great demonstration of how effortless the singer is able to transform his vocals to suit whatever story he’s telling.

2. ‘Francesca’

(Unreal Earth, 2023)

Hozier’s love affair with Dante leads to some remarkable storytelling across Unreal Unearth, but ‘Francesca’ is one of the richest, most brilliantly-constructed moments on the record. A retelling of the story of Francesca and Paolo from Inferno, Hozier takes the character of Francesca at her word when she rejects Dante’s characterisation of her relationship with Paolo as purely lustful. ‘Francesca’ sees her standing firm in the strong romantic and spiritual connection that she and Paolo have and advocating for their relationship, singing out her story on a folk-rock ballad of epic proportions. “If I could hold you for a minute/I would go through it again,” sings Hozier, as Francesca holds strong against the storms of hell. The entire thing is masterful.

1. ‘I, Carrion (Icarian)’

(Unreal Earth, 2023)

Narrowly beating out ‘Francesca’ is the track that follows immediately after. A reimagined love-struck Icarus speaks to us from the moment between dying and realising that he has died. The pun on ‘Icarian’ sees him characterised as dead flesh from the song’s very beginning, the tragic ending a foregone conclusion, but the speaker’s own death doesn’t scare him anywhere near as much as losing his lover. “If we fall/I only pray/Don’t fall away from me,” he pleads. Musically, the song is gorgeous, a picked guitar taking centre stage with strings sweeping in and out and Hozier’s own quiet vocal leading us by the hand through the narrative. It’s lyrically that ‘I, Carrion’ soars though, offering Hozier’s richest, saddest and most affecting love story to date.