It’s been a breakout year for the Bray singer.
The JOE Men of the Year awards are just around the corner and aside from all of the other incredible categories and talented nominees, only one man-tastic man can walk away with the title of JOE Man of the Year 2015.
Each JOE writer will be making a case for Paul O’Connell, Rory O’Neill (Panti Bliss), Hozier, Shane Long and Jon Walters but Tony Cuddihy wants you to vote for Hozier. Here’s why…
1) Describe his year using 5 emojis:
2) Why he must be JOE Man of the Year
While 2014 was Hozier’s breakthrough year in Ireland, this was the year he announced himself as a massive presence on a global scale.
Hozier had always thought of himself as a “very, very obscure artist” and never imagined he’d get airplay on Irish radio, let alone sell 1.5m copies of his debut album and see Take Me To Church nominated for a Grammy as song of the year.
He is the frontrunner to be named as best new artist when next year’s awards roll around, but the measure of the man’s talent has nothing to do with awards or record sales.
Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran and (lately) Gavin James may have cornered the market in stadium friendly man-pop but none seem to have the versatility or the capacity to go deeper that Hozier possesses. His debut album is not perfect but certain songs (Take Me To Church, Work Song and From Eden) possess something that no other artist under the age of 30 can even dream of.
3) His stand-out moment
His Other Voices performance. Never has something so funereal sounded so heavenly.
4) What 2016 might bring
He starts of the year with a massive European tour, but March will be a key month in terms of writing for a second album. He has no interest in hanging around.
“I’m trying to keep writing,” he said recently, “and I might have a couple of hours a day, if that. I am very, very eager to have time in March to sit down and work on what I’ve been doing.”
A new set of songs before the end of the year seems like a remote possibility, but given the man’s work ethic you can probably bet against a Damien Rice-sized hiatus.
Cast your vote for the JOE Man of the Year sponsored by Virgin Media here and on the rest of the JOE Men of the Year categories here.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ podcast – listen to the latest episode now!
