''Wasteland, Baby!'' is the second studio album by Irish musician
Hozier, released on 1 March 2019 by
Rubyworks Records.
It is Hozier's first album since 2014.
The album includes the songs "
Nina Cried Power" and "Shrike" from the 2018 EP ''
Nina Cried Power'', as well as the single "
Movement".
It was promoted by a North American tour beginning in March 2019, and a European tour in late summer to fall 2019. ''Wasteland, Baby!'' debuted atop the
Irish Albums Chart and the
''Billboard'' 200, and has since been certified gold in the US.
Background and writing
After touring his
debut album, Hozier took a one-year hiatus from his work, moving back to
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
to "reconnect".
He stated that he became a "news junkie" and wrote much of the album's material "trying to reconcile" his own "concerns and anxieties" regarding humanity when
Doomsday Clock moved two minutes to midnight in 2018.
The themes encompass apocalyptic imagery in "cultural" and "moral wastelands" within a backdrop of personal connection and intimacy;
influenced by the seeking of "hope" and "warmth" amidst major global events such as
climate change
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
, the
European migrant crisis
The 2015 European migrant crisis was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and Human migration, migrants into Europe, mostly from the Middle East. An estimated 1.3 million people came to the continent to request Right of asyl ...
, the rise of
neo-nationalism and
Brexit
Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU).
Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...
.
Such doubling concepts are expanded on in tracks like "Shrike", "Be", "No Plan" and "Wasteland, Baby!".
The album's lyrical and musical conception was influenced by featuring artist
Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples (born July 10, 1939) is an American rhythm and blues and gospel music, gospel singer and civil rights activism, activist. She rose to fame as a member of her family's band The Staple Singers, of which she is the last surviving memb ...
as well as the literature of
T.S Eliot,
W. B. Yeats and
Seamus Heaney
Seamus Justin Heaney (13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish Irish poetry, poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. Among his best-known works is ''Death of a Naturalist'' (1966), his first m ...
.
Stylistically, Hozier aimed for "music that hit a little bit harder, that leaned into rhythm a little bit more" than his debut record.
He first came up with the ideas for "Movement" and "Nina Cried Power" on the piano, and states that he had a "bad habit" of "trying to write six, seven, eight songs at once" while writing the record.
Hozier has stated that he was "reluctant" to draw inspiration from tour life, with the months he spent at home in the Irish countryside "living a normal life enabled
imto absorb things".
Hozier spent the last 18 months prior to ''Wasteland, Baby!s release working on the album. The exclamation mark in the title of the album is “quite important,” and signifies “ the wry smile” in his lyricism, blending "experiences of devastation and joy".
Music and lyrics
''Wasteland, Baby!'' is just under an hour long, containing fourteen tracks in total. The record features a guest appearances from blues singer and civil rights activist
Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples (born July 10, 1939) is an American rhythm and blues and gospel music, gospel singer and civil rights activism, activist. She rose to fame as a member of her family's band The Staple Singers, of which she is the last surviving memb ...
on "
Nina Cried Power" and instrumentalist
Booker T. Jones on "Be" and "Sunlight". The tracks were written entirely by Hozier with the exception of "As It Was", which was co-written with Alex Ryan. The album was produced by Hozier,
Markus Dravs,
Rob Kirwan, and
Ariel Rechtshaid.
''Wasteland, Baby!'' is a soul
R&B
and folk-influenced record.
The album features gospel choral backing,
pulpit-rattling percussion
gentle vocals,
and varied instrumentation
with bluesy organs and guitar
containing a mix of
pop-culture references
and personal sentiment.
The album also returns to
Biblical
The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...
and naturalistic imagery, invoking
romantic symbolism.
Songs
"
Nina Cried Power" opens the album with a bluesy, soulful track featuring a strong drumbeat and vocals by
Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples (born July 10, 1939) is an American rhythm and blues and gospel music, gospel singer and civil rights activism, activist. She rose to fame as a member of her family's band The Staple Singers, of which she is the last surviving memb ...
.
It sees Hozier lyrically reference artists he found inspirational during the song-writing process - among those mentioned are
Nina Simone
Nina Simone ( ; born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, pianist, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and po ...
,
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...
,
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer, songwriter, and composer widely considered to be one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American Left, A ...
and
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life.
Born and raised in Washington, D ...
. The following track "Almost (Sweet Music)" similarly alludes to jazz albums and songs.
Many tracks on the album, like the aforementioned "Nina Cried Power" as well as "Movement" and "To Noise Making (Sing)", feature a gospel choir.
"Movement" is an R&B ballad that compares the summons of love to an awe-inspiring dance, while the latter features a one-word refrain with dreamy, echoing vocals.
"Shrike" is among many folk-inspired tracks on the album, which sees Hozier lamenting his inability to voice his lost love - the title an ode to the
Shrike bird.
"Dinner & Diatribes" marks a slight stylistic change, and is more country-influenced.
"Sunlight" features a funk-organ and lyrical allusion, comparing the gospel of love to the myth of
Icarus
In Greek mythology, Icarus (; , ) was the son of the master craftsman Daedalus, the architect of the labyrinth of Crete. After Theseus, king of Athens and enemy of King Minos, escaped from the labyrinth, Minos suspected that Icarus and Daedalu ...
.
"Wasteland, Baby!" concludes the album with love ballad featuring subtle acoustics and soft utterances, depicting a tender romance against the backdrop of the apocalypse.
This dystopian theme runs deep within the album's lyricism, featured in tracks like "Be" which discusses global crises and humanity's flawed past, and "No Plan" which addresses the state and fate of universe with harsh lyricism, inspired by astrophysicist
Katie Mack.
Release and promotion
Hozier announced the track listing in a video posted to
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
, showing himself writing it down and then displaying it.
The album pre-order became available with the track "Almost (Sweet Music)". ''Wasteland, Baby!'' was released on 1 March 2019, debuting atop the US
''Billboard'' 200 chart. The album cover was painted by Hozier's mother from posed pictures of the artist in a staged, underwater set.
Singles
"
Nina Cried Power" was released as the lead single off the album on 6 September 2018. "
Movement" was released as the second single off the album on 14 November 2018. A music video for the song was also released on the same day. "
Almost (Sweet Music)" was released as the third single off the album, along with the album pre-order, on 16 January 2019. A music video for the song was released on 16 April 2019. "Dinner & Diatribes" was released as the fourth single off the album on 15 February 2019. A music video for the song was released on 6 March 2019.
Critical reception
''Wasteland, Baby!'' received generally positive reviews from music critics. At
Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 63, based on 10 reviews.
Positive reviews include
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
's
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...
, who called the album "a subtle but notable shift that lends emotional gravity to a singer/songwriter who already favored weighty topics."
Michael Pementel of ''
Consequence of Sound
''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television.
History
''Consequence of Sound'' was founded in Septem ...
'' stated "from the blend of instrumentals to the enchanting use of Hozier's voice, ''Wasteland, Baby!'' is an album that celebrates emotion and the wonder of music."
Neil McCormick of ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' gave the album a perfect score, claiming Hozier to be "a talent to rival
Jeff Buckley".
Tony Clayton-Lea of ''
The Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...
'' said "despite a hiccup or two, without which would have made for a five-star record – it's a very welcome one."
Elisabeth Woronzoff of ''
PopMatters
''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...
'' stated that Hozier needed the album "to recapture the energy created by his previous releases then further light the artist's skill and vision of his craft." And that it "certainly delivers while edifying the artist as an impactful voice in the art and activism sphere."
Mixed reviews include ''
The Arts Desk''s Russ Coffey, who said that the album's "finer moments – and there are many – come where he balances his natural despondency with some positivity."
Damien Morris of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' stated "it's a lovely sound, but the songwriting veers more towards the serviceable than the inspired."
Jonathan Bernstein of ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' claimed the album "has enough encouraging displays of maturation to feel like a transitional moment for Hozier. At its best, the album carves out a space for the singer to work out his creative tensions as he finds new ways to make his straight folk influences more accessible without losing anything along the way."
Negative reviews include ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
s Mark Beaumont, claiming "Hozier has some pertinent points to make on an album that improves dramatically in the second half."
Sam Sodomsky of ''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials.
The term is also applie ...
'' said "the man who took us to church tries to take us to the same church, again, 14 times, six years later."
Commercial performance
''Wasteland, Baby!'' debuted at number one on the
Irish Albums Chart and the US
''Billboard'' 200, earning 89,000
album-equivalent unit
The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, often shortened to just unit, is a sales metric in the music industry that defines the number of streaming media, songs streamed and music download, songs downloaded equal to one Record sales, tradi ...
s in the latter country (including 75,000 pure album sales). It is Hozier's first US number-one album.
Track listing
All tracks written by
Andrew Hozier-Byrne; "As It Was" co-written by Alex Ryan. All tracks co-produced by
Markus Dravs, unless otherwise noted.
Personnel
Musicians
*
Andrew Hozier-Byrne – vocals, guitar (all tracks);
Wurlitzer
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...
(1), synthesizer (1, 4, 8, 11, 14), piano (2, 12),
shaker (2, 9, 10), percussion (8, 9, 12),
bells (9), organ (9, 12, 14),
bongos
Bongos (Spanish language, Spanish: ''bongó'') are an Afro-Cubans, Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. The pair consists of the larger ''hembra'' () and the smaller ''macho'' ...
, drums, tambourine (12);
programming (13)
*
Lurine Cato – background vocals (1, 10, 13)
* Priscilla Jones-Campbell – background vocals (1, 10, 13)
*
Markus Dravs – synthesizer (1, 3), synth bass (1, 12), programming (3, 4, 9, 12, 13), keyboards (10), drums (12)
* Alex Ryan – bass (1–13), piano (1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13), Wurlitzer (2, 4, 7, 9, 14),
Rhodes piano (3, 4, 7, 9), keyboards (8), synth bass (11), percussion (8, 12), drums, tambourine (12)
* Rory Doyle – drums (1–4, 9–13), percussion (8, 11, 12), tambourine (12)
*
Booker T. Jones – organ (1–3, 10, 13)
*
Paul Clarvis – shaker (1, 3, 4, 13), tambourine (1, 2, 10), bells (3)
*
Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples (born July 10, 1939) is an American rhythm and blues and gospel music, gospel singer and civil rights activism, activist. She rose to fame as a member of her family's band The Staple Singers, of which she is the last surviving memb ...
– vocals (1)
* Nell Catchpole – violin (4)
*
Matt Bauder –
baritone saxophone
The baritone saxophone (sometimes abbreviated to "bari sax") is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass saxophone, bass. It is the lowe ...
,
cornet
The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. There is also a soprano cor ...
(5)
*
Buddy Ross – organ,
celesta
The celesta () or celeste (), also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music ...
(5); piano, Wurlitzer, synthesizer,
Orchestron (6)
* Aaron Redfield – drums (5)
* Kate Urcioli – trombone (5)
* Jackie Gouche Ferris – background vocals (6)
*
Judith Hill – background vocals (6)
*
Lynn Mabry – background vocals (6)
* Sarah Lynch – violin (7, 8)
Technical
*
Greg Calbi
Gregory Calbi (born April 3, 1949) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound, New Jersey.
Biography
Greg Calbi was born on April 3, 1949, in Yonkers, New York, and raised in Bayside, Queens, New York. He graduated in 1966 from Bishop ...
–
mastering
*
Mike Crossey –
mixing (1)
*
Shawn Everett – mixing (2, 4, 5)
*
Andrew Scheps – mixing (3, 7–14)
*
Ariel Rechtshaid – mixing (6)
* Robbie Nelson –
engineering
Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
(1–4, 9, 10, 12–14)
* Iain Berryman – engineering (1–4, 9, 10, 12–14)
* Markus Dravs – engineering (1)
* Dave Schiffman – engineering (5, 6)
* Ben Tolliday – engineering (7, 8, 11)
* Nick Rowe –
editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written language, written, Image editing, visual, Audio engineer, audible, or Film editing, cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing p ...
(5, 6)
* Nathaniel Graham – engineering assistance (1–4, 9–14)
* Stephen Sesso – engineering assistance (1)
* Jim Caroll – engineering assistance (1)
* Rachel Bloom – engineering assistance (1)
* Ivan Wayman – engineering assistance (2, 4, 5)
* Chris Kasych – engineering assistance (5, 6)
* John DeBold – engineering assistance (5, 6)
* PJ Ronan – engineering assistance (7, 8, 11)
* Misha Hercules – engineering assistance (7, 8, 11)
Artwork
* Andrew Hozier-Byrne – art direction
* Raine Hozier-Byrne – art direction, cover painting
* Mark James – design
* Lucy Nuzum – photography
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
{{Authority control
2019 albums
Hozier albums
Island Records albums
Rubyworks Records albums
Albums produced by Ariel Rechtshaid
Albums produced by Hozier (musician)
Albums produced by Markus Dravs
Albums recorded at RAK Studios
Albums recorded at Electro-Vox Recording Studios