
Hozier’s self-titled album has a cover with a unique piece of artwork depicting what initially seems like a man in an apartment. With a closer look at the art work there are many strange aspects to this work, which includes a look at the man on the covers face and body, the coloring and look of the windows, the clock in the background and the roots that appear throughout the piece. Many of these aspects represent an underlying message that the artist is trying to get across to the viewer using many techniques and placement of many objects in the art work.  

The first thing the viewer see while looking at the cover of the album is the Man in the center. His blue shirt and pants make him really pop on the mostly yellow monochromatic color scheme in the background. While looking at this man the first thing you notice is his face. The artist keeps the man on the front of the cover faceless and opts to put two separate scenes in place of where his face should be. The first scene depicts a rocky beach and cliff in the day light, while the second scene depicts a city skyline in the night. If you follow his arm down on the viewers left side, you notice his wrist is painted like a water scene and if you follow his arm down the right side for the viewer you see at first a large section of his arm painted like scaffolding and his wrist is painted like a building in a city. This depiction splits the man in half the artist is trying to get at there is two parts to a man the nature loving side and the side that loves the city and the night life. Another interesting aspect painted in on the man is the words our gentle sins placed under the image of the scaffolding. This placed under the scaffolding creates the argument that the artist is making the statement that the city and night life is where people make there “gentle sins”. When many think of nightlife the images conjured up are large extravagant alcohol and drug related parties, held in clubs in cities and along with these can come many other types of gentle sins such as adultery, prostitution, gambling and other activities looked down on by society. This is why the artist choses to place that line on the side of the man’s body depicting the city and night life. 

Another strange facet in the painting is the windows. Sticking with the theme of two the artist two windows. While looking at the window directly behind the man one thing that stands out is the dark color scheme the artist uses giving it a very eerie appearance. On top of the dark color scheme the shadows that appear in the window give and image that almost conjures up the thought of a horror film that is almost unnerving. The other thing that stands out in this window is the cross that appears on the window. The window has a very light checkered pattern to it but the artist uses a shadow to give part of the window a completely black background blocking out the checkered pattern accept for one deeply white cross that stand out completely on the black background drawing the viewers eye. The other window appears to have a much lighter color scheme avoiding blacks and shadows giving it almost a heavenly like image. Through the windows grows vines with bright green leaves on them depicting life and growing. The windows are almost direct opposites one uses a dark color scheme the other a light. One shows plants growing and flourishing the other depicts shadows of dead eerie trees. Just like the man split in two by two opposite scenes the artist is sticking to this theme by splitting the windows into two opposite themes one being goodness and light and life the other darkness and unnerving depictions. The cross being depicted on the side of darkness seems to be a reference to many of Hozier’s songs in which he is critical of the churches stance on many things such as gay marriage and tolerance. 

The key image in this painting that truly ties it all together is the large root in the background under the windows. While the viewer looks at the window that depicts the good and light it is noticeable that the root stems from this window. As it passes under the Window depicting darkness and evil you notice a small root growing out of the corner of the window attaching its self to the larger root. Another technique the artist uses is placing it in the background to make it appear like the root is traveling into the man from behind him. The artist is trying to make the statement that every person’s roots start from innocents, purity, and goodness, but along the way it can pick up a small root from darkness and evil. The root itself depicting the man’s conscious and his lifeline like the root of a plant. 

The last thing that stands out in this painting is the clock in viewer’s right hand corner. The first thing that makes it stand out is the fact that the clock is no ordinary clock but a stopwatch with a face flipped upside down. The artist is trying to say that time is a human concept that time is how we think of it, it can be stopped and started in the view point of a man and the numbers we assigned time is arbitrary. 

The art work on Hozier’s self-titled album sticks to the key theme of the balance between good and evil this being visible in many ways such as the balance of nature and city on the man and the split between the two windows which are symbolic of good and evil as well as the addition of religion seen in the window and the lyrics on his arm. Many of Hozier’s songs lead to the same thoughts and responses and this album cover represents his music and his art well.