Hozier Follows Up Album With New 4 Track EP Ahead of Nationwide Tour

Hozier, the pulti-platinum singer/songwriter, has released has released his latest EP, Nina Cried Power, via Columbia Records. The 4-track set is the first collection of new music Hozier has shared since the 2014 release of his critically acclaimed self-titled debut album.

In addition to vocals from legendary multi-Grammy Award-winning artist and performer Mavis Staples, the EP features instrumentation by renowned Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient Booker T Jones who played the organ on multiple tracks.

“I’m very excited to release my new single Nina Cried Power,” says Hozier about the EP’s title track and lead-single.

“The song was written last year – my aim was to credit the actuality of hope, solidarity, and love found in the human spirit at a time when their opposites were being given a mainstream platform 24/7.

“The song started as a tongue-in-cheek inquiry into modern popular language regarding political awareness and grew from there,” he explains.

“Oh, Nina is gonna wake the world up,” says Maples. “Such a huge sound it could shake the Earth, filled with soul, passion, and fire, and it channels the struggles of some of my contemporaries. I’m telling you when you hear it, it’s going to drive you to rise up.”

“Hozier is a rare artist who remains a wellspring of creativity. Like a baby who never becomes a child, he lingers selflessly at the source, rendering one fresh song after the other,” says Booker T.

Hozier’s debut album was a pleasant surprise; to consumers and radio alike. One radio wag noted: “There was nothing else like it at the time, so for that fact alone, we all listened to it and loved it.”

My favorite tracks were “From Eden” and “Jackie and Wilson.”

The sparse production and his emotive voice proved irresistible all around. To me, the fact that he wrote everything was sensational too. He also ended up writing the track “Better Love” which was for the Warner Brothers film The Legend Of Tarzan.

Hozier kicks off his sold-out North American headline tour next week at Ottawa’s CityFolk Festival.

The 17 city run includes three nights at both New York City’s Beacon Theatre and Los Angeles’ The Wiltern.

Hozier will also play prominent sets at Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival and Austin City Limits Music Festival .

SHORT TAKES…

• Monkee Micky Dolenz took part in a discussion of particle psychics last weekend at The Big Bang Science Fair in Providence, with Dr. Donald Lincoln; a renowned experimental physicist at Fermilab in Illinois. If you didn’t know it, Dolenz is a fan of particle psychics. How’s that for Monkee-ing around! The Monkees have cut their first holiday album Christmas Party. Set for release Oct. 12, the album, produced by Fountain of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger, includes Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork along with vintage recordings of the late Davy Jones.

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  Fantasy Records, which long ago ended its run as a premier record label, just closed up their original studios where everyone from Santana to Creedence Clearwater Revival recorded. Under Saul Zaentz, the label was a powerhouse imprint back in the day. Zaentz started as a salesman for the label and Fogarty was a shipping clerk there; his first group was The Golliwogs, which morphed into CCR.
• David Letterman showed up, unannounced, to introduce Paul Shaffer at his Las Vegas gig. Now, that’s a true friend.
• Donnie Kehr (Jersey Boys; The Who’s Tommy) hosts his next “Rockers On Broadway event” (the 25th) on Monday, Nov. 12 at le Poisson Rouge in NYC.

Winchester

Winchester is a pseudonym for a long-time New York City entertainment writer and public relations guru. He writes frequently for The New York Independent.