“[Nina Cried Power] is best looked at as a little bit of a sampler, four corners of the world the album populates. That’s how I kind of picture it in my head. Every song is standing around the same awful bonfire [of the world]. Some of them are optimistic; some of them are terrified; some of them are really looking forward to just burning within it.
“My first introduction to music [was] Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Howlin’ Wolf, the music that my dad used to play in the house. From there, I just fell in love with the music coming out of Black America. A lot of my folk influences would be coming from Ireland.
“There is absolutely no rock and roll without blues music. There is no blues music without one of the most horrendous atrocities of human trafficking in the last few centuries. It is, of course, a really difficult subject. Everything that’s popular music swings off the work and the achievements and the legacy of Black artistry.
“When writing [the title track], it was important to me to have Mavis involved. She was kind of there at the beginning of the song. Even when the song was in its embryonic state and the idea of it was forming, I wanted to credit the legacy of the artists in that song and the names were kind of popping into my head, [and] I knew it needed Mavis. I just felt incredibly fortunate and honored that she got where the song was coming from and vibed with it and was up for being a part of the song. That was a very integral part of the song for me.”
Hozier Unpacks His New ‘Nina Cried Power’ EP: ‘It’s a Thank You Note to the Spirit of Protest’
Pass Through Fire 