Hozier’s much-anticipated album Unreal Unearth was released on August 18, 2023. The album, which is comprised of songs mostly written during and immediately following the COVID-19 pandemic, is loosely constructed around Dante’s nine circles. Hozier is extremely eloquent in talking about how his songs take up Dante’s ideas, themes, and images, and his press and social media interviews are worth a listen for anyone interested in his adaptations of Dante!

“While keen to stress that the record is by no means a concept album, Hozier went on to explain how Dante’s Nine Circles of Hell had provided a handy framing device for the record. Specifically, the album reflects upon two of the nine circles of hell: gluttony and heresy.

‘There’s a subtle element and I wanted to be light and playful with it. The album can be taken as a collection of songs, but also as a little bit of a journey. It starts with a descent and I’ve arranged the songs according to their themes into nine circles, just playfully reflecting Dante’s nine circles and then an ascent at the end,’ he said.

‘Because I think everyone went on a little bit of a journey over the last two years, everybody went through something changed, something about their lives, something about their work, something about themselves and came out the other side, slightly changed in some way, shape or form and that, it was sort of, that was just, that’s just how the album is arranged.'”   –Nick Reilly, “Hozier on new EP ‘Eat Your Young’ and how Dante’s ‘Inferno’ inspired him,” RollingStone UK (March 17, 2023)

See the official videos for “Eat Your Young” (Hozier’s take on gluttony),”All Things End” (heresy), and more on Hozier’s YouTube channel.

Contributed by many friends of Dante Today, including Aspen Foulk, Alyssa Granacki, Akash Kumar, Robert Alex Lee, Caleb Taylor, and Emily Yemington. Many thanks to all the contributors!