When an artist can create a sound so beautiful and melancholy, so full of symbolism and truth that you feel they must be from a different time, or a better world, you can’t help but believe in magic. Hozier had me believing from the first note. His music became the barometer for my own: How can I make a song feel like an extension of my soul, the way Hozier does? How can I create a voice, a language, like he has?
It was easy to imagine Hozier as a folk deity in the forests of Ireland until I met him. At a festival in 2023, he asked if I wanted to sing together. I ran into him in a hotel lobby, in sweaty golf clothes with a bag of fast food in my hand—not how I envisioned this moment. Fortunately, he is as kind as they come. We spoke about the performance, and I pinched myself as I stuffed fries in my face on the way upstairs. Performing with him was one of the greatest moments of my life. And when we collaborated on my song “Northern Attitude,” I didn’t believe it was truly happening until I heard his voice on the track.
I’m not sure where my life would’ve gone if I hadn’t been exposed to his music. Thank you, Hozier, for sharing your gift with us mere mortals.
Kahan is a Grammy-nominated musician