Hozier reveals how the Too Sweet leak created one of the year’s biggest hits

Irish superstar Hozier may be the only artist in history to be happy his song was leaked, revealing his hit about two mismatched lovers wasn’t even meant to be a single.

Irish superstar Hozier may be the only artist in the world who is happy to have a song leaked.

A decade after his “surprise, unlikely” hit with Take Me To Church soared to the top of the global charts, lightning struck twice this year with a song that wasn’t even meant to be a single.

Too Sweet, his playful rock ballad about mismatched lovers, was the lead track of an EP called Unheard, a collection of songs which didn’t make the cut for his 2023 album Unreal Unearth.

The EP was set for release in March this year but two weeks before, a snippet was accidentally included at the end of an interview he did for an American podcast called How Long Gone.

While Hozier’s team scrambled to have it taken down, it was too late as fans had recorded the clip and started using it on TikTok videos. And a hit was born.

Irish superstar Hozier performing in Sydney at Qudos Bank Arena on November 15. Picture: Ruth Medjber / Supplied.

As he wound down his wildly successful sold-out tour of Australia, the Irish musician said he was “blessed” by the happy accident.

“I never write songs with the intention of whether it’s going to reach a lot of people and that was the same with Take Me To Church, that was a surprise, unlikely hit,” he said.

“For this to cap 10 years of a career, it’s really cool. If we had planned (to release it), it probably wouldn’t have worked out so well.

“But the fact that listening to it at the time, that people knew they weren’t meant to have this, that it was a mistake and then taken offline, I think was part of the excitement of it as well.”

Too Sweet’s success brought in a wave of new fans who discovered him via the TikTok videos who subsequently did a deep dive into his catalogue.

Hozier played to sold-out crowds in Australia thanks to his Too Sweet smash. Picture: Ruth Medjber / Supplied.

“I was only 10 when you released Take Me To Church,” is a constant comment when he meets them after shows.

Hozier says he could actually hear the discernible difference in the generational make-up of the audience when they raised their voices to sing along to his hits during his Australian shows.

“With that whole TikTok phenomenon, I think the work found its way to younger audiences. So sometimes, it sounds louder,” he said.

He reports from the stage that his pub choir also sounds like they are singing perfectly in tune.

Scientists suggest a crowd of singers will sound harmonious because our hearing averages out the flat and sharp voices – unless they are right in your ear. And because the fans have plenty of people near them singing close to perfect pitch, they adjust their own voice.

The Irish star says it’s rubbish that there are “singers and non-singers.” Picture: Richard Dobson

Hozier believes it is a myth that there are “singers and non-singers” in the world. And he particularly loves hearing the Australian accent when fans are belting his songs back to him.

“I think people are better singers than they generally think that they are,” he said.

“Singing is a very deep, older form of communication and unfortunately in our modern day we have this idea that there are singers and there are non-singers.

“But when there’s 10,000 people in a crowd, they’re all in pitch, they’re all keeping key. I don’t know if I’m in pitch half the time!”

Hozier’s return to Australia to play shows here for the first time since 2018 coincided with a rock takeover of our major venues for the second half of 2024.

The sold-out jaunts by Coldplay, Pearl Jam and our own Cold Chisel, and the successful Good Things festivals this weekend brought hundreds of thousands of rock fans back to stadiums, arenas and the great outdoors.

The Irish artist believes the resurgence of the genre at the live level, as opposed to the charts, reflects a renewed fascination with guitar music among younger music fans.

“The guitar has a lot of staying power as the folk instrument, the bedroom instrument,” he said.

“I’ve heard it said and I partly agreed with it that the laptop was the new folk instrument whereas once upon a time every house had an acoustic guitar.

“But when people want to learn how to sing a song, or their favourite song, they go to an acoustic guitar because of the tangibility of that.”

Covers are also driving a new generation to fall in love with 90s rock classics, with Hozier citing the global streaming smash of the Cranberries’ Linger by Australian indie duo Royel Otis

“This generation is discovering 4 Non Blondes and the Cranberries all this 90s stuff that was just ubiquitous to me, that was on Top of the Pops and MTV. for the first time,” he said.

“For a time I wasn’t sure rock would come back but it’s cool to see that happening.

“I’ve known Linger for so long but when I heard that (Royel Otis) version, I was brought into a new experience of how f … ing beautiful that song is and I was really moved by it.”

Hozier will see out the year with the release this week of a deluxe version of last year’s Unreal Unearth album called Unending which brings together all of his tracks from 2022 to 2024 including the Unheard, Unaired, and Eat Your Young EPs.

The new package is likely to push Too Sweet back up the charts to see out one of the most successful years in his decade-long career.

Originally published as Hozier reveals how the Too Sweet leak created one of the year’s biggest hits