ALBUM REVIEW: Hozier – Nina Cried Power

By Camille Fowler

After four years of hiatus since the release of Hozier’s first album and his hit song “Take Me to Church,” fans were graced with a new EP. The collection, titled Nina Cried Power, was released Sep. 8, and fully embodies the implications of the name. It is a musical homage to revolution, and is evidently inspired by radicalism without sacrificing Hozier’s characteristic concoction of light and darkness.

The opening song and the EP’s namesake, “Nina Cried Power,” is a mighty ballad about overcoming and rising up. It is driven by a dynamic drum sequence sustained throughout the number. It’s eventually accompanied by gospel echoes, which support the vocals of Hozier and soul legend Mavis Staples. The song is emotional and a tribute to resistance, referring to revolutionary musicians Nina Simone, James Brown, John Lennon, and B.B. King.

“NFWMB,” the second track, offers a drastic contrast to the first song on the EP. It is evocative of the sound Hozier is known for. The slow, lilting picking on the guitar repeats itself as Hozier sings in a high, soft pitch. Like many Hozier songs, “NFWMB” elicits feelings of darkness and love. Unsurprisingly, it is riddled with Biblical allusions and apocalyptic references. He sings, “Ain’t it warming you / The world gone up in flames / Ain’t it the life you / Your lighting of the blaze.” Although the tone has changed, the lyrics still embody the same message of revolution as “Nina Cried Power.”

The third track, “Moment’s Silence (Common Tongue),” departs to a faster beat, the drum sequence driven by the metronome of finger snaps that persist throughout the song. Eventually, the electric guitar and Hozier’s powerful vocals take over the rhythm for the chorus. The lyrics, predictably dark and mysterious, sing of God, sex, and immorality. He refers to a reckoning, and the authority of power’s creed, which again serves as a continuation of the overall theme.

Most Hozier fans would categorize “Shrike,” the final song, as the track most reminiscent of the spirit Hozier is known for. A simple, melodic guitar picking sequence is overpowered by loud, emotional vocals. He sings of love and feeling silenced, of not being able to speak when he needed to. The lyrics alternate between dark and uplifting imagery, evoking feelings of nostalgia and melancholy, which make it the perfect track to come down from the previous rhythm and complete the EP.