Hozier’s cynicism, when it’s present at all, can’t help but be subtle, tongue-in-cheek, maybe even a little sweet-and, more often than not, couched in endlessly hummable melodies and bluesy, folky guitar lines. So it’s surprising when, taking stock of his second album, Andrew Hozier-Byrne tells Apple Music, “There was either language that seemed to focus upon drowning or the burning of things, or the ending of things.” Fear not: This is hardly a gloom-and-doom record, despite the subject matter occasionally veering towards end times. “Destruction” isn’t usually the word most people associate with Irish singer-songwriter Hozier’s music.
