flawless performance by hozier idk why the vocal coach says hozier was uncomfortable and emotionless i saw the opposite hozier was confident was singining his heart out was calm yet loud what a singer

I don't think he's uncomfortable at all, he's said in interviews that he gets lost in his songs while performing. He also said he's very shy and feels weird that people actually want to listen to him...he's also use to always having a guitar to play. Also that "deathless death" part is intentional...it's supposed to be a take your breath away moment. You may need to check out his other music to get an idea how he performs, and his facial ticks he said he uses to visualize where he will go with the song.

I think what you may have missed is that this song is brutally sad. His expression matches the tone of the song.

The flips between highs and lows are intentional. It's the same in the official recording. I believe he's pulling in some traditional Irish keening. Its almost a yodel. Listen to his song 'Shrike' with a very strong Irish influence or The Cranberry's 'Dreams', or Sinead OConnors 'Three Babies', all modern irish songs with hints of keening. Hozier also looks at least minorly uncomfortable in every interview he does. He slso spent some time singing with Anuna, check out La Chanson de Marti Gras.

I have sang my whole life. He has an incredible voice and he gives me goose bumps every time I hear this performance. Every reaction but yours has unbelievable. You're a hack.

Although he is uncomfortable, it didn’t change his singing. That’s his style, the strained high notes and the full lows

Well as you said, singing in the subway is not ideal but... that is his actual style of singing. He has a very specific style which is not uncommon (as a general influence of sound) in Ireland. I am not aware if he has studied music or if he is self taught and bear in mind that Ireland has a huuuge busking tradition so... I actually like this a lot. Half the views must be my boyfriend's hahhaha. He got through a phase with this performance 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I also believe that "the deathless death" high note is intentionally like this. It is a "death" after all 😉 but I really appreciate your input on this. 🙂

That emotion on his face makes this song even more vibrant for me somehow. What an amazing singer. Lots off love Hozier.

Honestly, all that you said about him being uncomfortable, looking a place to ground himself, etc.... That all just sounds like him being Hozier. He's very inteovertic, doesn't like being in public, in the centre of attention and so on. Even in the cover of his first album there's a picture of him but the face is removed. He said he felt much more comfortable this way, instead of having his face in there. He just seems like a very gentle soul. Maybe that's what makes him such an amazing artist.

man, the jealousy coming out of my screen is cringeworthy. You can tell (as he says) his teacher would be pissed if he even shows some emotion through his eyebrows, you can tell he is jealous of Hozier's laid back yet beautiful showmanship. Hozier is Irish, home of the busker. You can see him looking out in every direction and singing out to the crowd almost like he's telling them a story. It should be titled "Vocal Coach displays his envy of a young talented singer" I truly worry for your students if you're really trying to downplay and discredit Hozier's soul and beautiful way of singing

I quite like his singing of "your deathless death", it's always come across as intentional to me. The disjointedness brings focus to the lyrics in that line imo. Smoothening it out would make this song sound too "pretty"; Hozier's songs tend to tiptoe the line but lean towards the raw and emotional side more so than the classically beautiful side of music Also, nice and informative reaction video. Would love to see more!

As a vocal coach, I wish you would have focused a little more closely on his singing rather than the way he looked. I understand there is a balance between the two when you are a performer, but you analysis severely lacked in the category of his vocal talent. It was disappointing.

Whatever flaws you're trying to find in this performance are the things you should be feeling in this song. His performance was spot on. He is vulnerable and the song is too.

His face is always like that, that's his resting face

I'm not seeing all the issues, but my issue is people smoothing out rough edges until you are left with something boring and without any personality.

I vaguely remember reading years ago that Hozier was really uncomfortable performing without a guitar, although I think he has done it more over time. I would suggest checking out more of his songs - I really like his music :)

You a vocal coach or a psychologist? “~He looks and sounds like this but I can just tell by the way he closes his eyes he is super uncomfortable and ready to leave~”

I'm not super in depth with Hozier but from what I do know, a lot of his expressions and positioning and vocals are his choice, he's a pretty intentional artist. Also I think the singing style in Ireland is quite different from how singing is done in the US, at least maybe in terms of technique but I'm no expert at all. Nice reaction though! I appreciate your thoughts and input.

Next Corey Taylor - snuff acoustic

I absolutely love this performance and the flawlessness of it was ridiculous

That was the most bizarre review I’ve ever heard you do. Lotta projection going on there. When I listen to every other vocal coach they’re totally amazed by this man’s performance. They break it down how he does his vowels etc. etc. And you think he’s uncomfortable tell me what that’s about

He is very uncomfortable performing. He even struggles with interviews. The performance he did with Annie Lennox was great because Annie absolutely killed it, but he looked like he wanted to run and hide.

With all due respect, I think you completely misinterpreted this performance. Hozier is naturally shy, and I think you missed the point of the circumstances and the song. He has gotten nothing but good notices from this performance.

He always goes soft when he flips up to the high note in the chorus, it’s just how he sings it

Good and fair review with proper analysis. Glad someone finally objectively reacted to this performance. Great respect to you Ken.

While I appreciate your knowledge and experience as a vocal coach in reading body language, especially when it comes to how mouth shape is formed while performing, I'd like to add, that as an Autistic person, it's generally not a good basis to read us in terms of what society deems as "proper" ways of how to act or move. Definitely haven't seen any information about Hozier being on the spectrum. But it is called a spectrum for a reason, and just being neurodivergent in general gives us an entirely different set of body language. This is just his style of singing!

This is a VERY VERY good reaction. Hozier is my favourite artist, and I think if you didn't offend me with this reaction nobody should be, it is very observant and deconstructing, on a level none of the other reactions to this video have been. That being said, there's a few things to mention. I've seen every single one of his live performances, from tiny rooms with few people to massive stadiums to... this lmao. The body language is very commonly like this from him. I think you're right about him being uncomfortable in that situation, but he always gets into the zone in his head and has this, almost feral energy and movement to him. I think in this performance he was in that place and probably just looking around with the muscle memory from touring all the time before this. If you want to see two live performances that really shine from him (of course, I'd love to see reactions to these) look first for "jackboot jump". The official video is his live performance, and it shows his talent truly. He is one of the best multitaskers I've ever seen, he sings with 100% of his vocal agility, even when he starts playing the guitar at the same time, and a complex piece too. The other is "It will come back" at rockhal esch. He'll be wearing a red flannel shirt. This is the ultimate example of his feral nature I mentioned. It's like he's filled with this convusling and writhing wildness, hatred, and lust all at once, meanwhile he's delivering a very strong vocal performance. If you take a look at these, I really hope you enjoy them. I loved this reaction, made me think a lot more than any other has when it comes to this performance, so, thank you!

Every other reaction I’ve seen to this song is very positive with no mention of how uncomfortable he looks - I very much appreciate your insight and honesty. I would love to see you react to A Perfect Circle performing The Outsider live on Jay Leno. Maynard James Keenan is amazing, as are the musicians.

This is by far the best version of this song I've ever heard. I have no idea what you are talking about with him being uncomfortable or tense.

Appreciate the applause. xD Also, I appreciate the time/effort that you put forth in creating these videos for us all to enjoy. Thanks Ken! :)

genuinely.. I just bumped into your channel because I was looking for Rammstein reactions and, honestly, you look like the most kind- and warm-hearted man on the fricking planet. keep doing what you're doing, man.

I appreciate how honest and raw you are with your reaction, not just fawning over the artist to pander to their fans. Good analysis of his body language, and I think watching him perform in other environments would give important context. Speaking of which, I'd love to see you react to his cover of Toxic! He's in a much more comfortable setting there :)

Your outlook is so fascinating! I’m really not sure that I would have caught much of that watching it on my own, but I agree with you! He looks quite uncomfortable at times.. I really enjoy the story you tell in your reactions. It’s quite captivating!

You should check out “Movement” by Hozier. He also did this song in the subway

This video was very interesting, to see, how you dive into it and go with it. Thank you very much!

love your honesty. love it or hate it-you call them out. bravo

Thanks for good review. Oh dear, yes he is really uncomfortable and it shows: he really is so good too...

I somehow stumbled on to your channel and I’m so frikkin glad. Thank you

I think you're wrong about a ton of this. He's ALWAYS like this. It didn't have much to do with this environment. He's permanently socially awkward.

Ok, I subbed. Honest reaction and analysis as always.

I'm not a singer but I love this song and when I saw this performance I started to wonder if he can really handle those high notes or if it was the magic of the recording studio. I now, however, think I agree with you, Ken, in that he seemed nervous/uncomfortable and maybe it was cold or he hadn't warmed up his voice enough. Thanks for your input. I thought I was being overly critical of those high notes but it's not just me that felt he could have done a little better.

Hozier is one of my favorite artist, I'll recommend to check movement on the current or Nina cried power.

Great critique man. Really enjoyed a different perspective.

This reaction is great. 😆 Every thought I had watching this the first time, you agreed!! Great facial expressions 😝

Ken, I love your personality. Hope this channel blows up in the years to come!

He’s a great singer/songwriter. I think all this video demonstrates is how difficult it is to busk in a busy place and why artists don’t generally do concerts in subways. Under those circumstances he’s still a great singer/songwriter.

This was a great reaction. It's refreshing to see you unbiasedly deconstruct very popular singers (at least here in Europe/the UK). I do think he's uncomfortable, but this is actually also a pretty accurate reflection of how he usually sounds. He's a very unique soul.

I think the cold might have affected his vocal transitions a bit. I remember this video was released in the winter, so there's that.

Please do reactions to more Tool and APC stuff! Also, I'm really surprised you thought he looked uncomfortable, to me he seems extremely relaxed and my voice teacher says he has pretty good technique. Nonetheless, it was interesting to hear your perspective and liked that you took a critical look at his performance.

FYI, he doesn’t need your advice. He sounded well and received a lot of good critique from other vocal coaches.

I wonder if possibly the room sound was terrible and throwing him off- it almost sounds like he feels he has to push louder than where he's comfortable. I wonder if maybe he wasn't warmed up too. I think it's a great analysis, Ken, you don't come across like you are burning him :)

Great reaction! 🙂

Finally , someone reacts honestly to this recording! I thought it was not good at all, honestly. I really like the song , but this version ..... no , not the best.

I'd heard this song since it came out several times but just watched the official video a week or so ago. The song is brilliant, and the artists are brilliant, but wow, the video is intense and very dark. I don't know if you've seen it already, but I would recommend anyone watch it, as hard as it may be to watch.

How did my german u tube obsession lead to you? Oh yeah I blame it on Till. You are so great!

He seemed totally uncomfortable and he was definitely having issues hit his higher notes! He's much better than this! I'm sure that the circumstances were not ideal for him! Too many things distracted him too, I thought! Good review!!

I agree this wasn't a great performance of his and he sounded like he was trying to sing louder than he usually would which makes him sound uncomfortable. However, it's not a classical or even pop sound and is often purposefully rough around the edges. More indie, folksy, blues inspired and raw. So I don't agree that he should attempt to sound "smooth" in transitions all the time. He does also have some very nice softer, smoother songs as well. What is not picking up well in this recording is how rich his voice can sound. Try these: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jctdoKyIsbqZdH0.html , kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hMlnp7lh0bjKiY0.html , kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qeCmecqV28yxoWQ.html

I had the privilege of seeing him live and he’s amazing! I’m not sure I understand where your review is coming from. No offense.

Props to you for providing your own opinion, too many biased reactions on youtube, 100% respect to you. Keep up the great work, I always appreciate free thinking!

Please review Mathias Nebel’s audition of Bed of Roses on the Voice!!

i don’t think you’ll see this as this video is from a few years ago. i see you got ate alive in the comments lol. hozier is one of my top favorite artists of all time, and i tend to agree with you. i still appreciate and love this performance for what it is, but what i parasocially know about hozier (lol) i can’t imagine he would have been comfortable in that position. i’d love for you check out more hozier, especially recorded live performances. he’s just…phenomenal.

The imperfections are what draws people. It's the raw emotion rather than perfection is more important. Technical perfection without emotion and storytelling is boring. It's not relatable.

Are you familiar with Dermot Kennedy? He's an Irish singer-songwriter. I'd love to see your reaction to Lost, Moments Passed, Rome, For Island Fires and Family, etc. Anything by him is great!

Lol. Here I was enjoying the video not even noticing that he was uncomfortable

My theory for the potential discomfort is two things. It’s possible that it’s just the environment, but it’s also possible that he’s tired of singing the song. It’s his most popular song, and I know artists sometimes have negative feelings toward the song theyre most known for.

Haha the dude who has never heard of Hozier, who’s been around for 10 years and is acclaimed world-wide, is giving his 2 Cts 😂 comedy gold for days bruh

Dude you have to watch the other video of this. There is literally like 1000 people standing in front of him. He is in the subway station.

You need to do “the heretic prevails” by “shadow of intent” you’ll be blown away by the vocals!

Vocal coaches that just want to smooth everything out to the point of soullessness are maddening. My favorite singers all have edges and tics and rawness- Elliott Smith, Britt Daniel, Jim James, Grant-Lee Phillips. Anyway. Yeah.

Hozier- do i wanna know (arctic monkeys cover) it a live song. Gorgeous harmonies. But you can see how he really doesn’t emote much. I still love this live version of TMTC. He preformed this with annie lennox on a awards show. I forget what one what year but their voices worked well.

what's wrong with his flips to the higher pitch? They've always sounded good to me. Genuinely wondering

What does this song mean to you? I truly feel like your meaning may not capturing the emotion behind this song. If you know his meaning, perhaps your review will change. Love your input. But it does seem to come from someone who doesn’t feel the true meaning behind the words of his song.

Seriously I’m so glad you have written and sang so much better songs than hozier well done looking forward to hearing you on subway or anywhere with original music

I subscribed There are actually three songs that I recommend listening to them 1. Hallelujah by Pentatonix 2.black is the colour of my true loves hair by Peter hollins and avi Kaplan 3.je Suis malde by Lara Fabian

Have you heard the lyrics? What did you expect? Partying and cartwheels with back up breakdancers? 😂

It's nice to see some criticism of a performance and not just fawning over a very average performance just to keep the fans happy. The top comment says " Flawless performance " which is absurd as it clearly isn't , even if only judged against the artists other performances , which are much better. Some people just want to hear everything is brilliant , even when it clearly isn't. Good review.

Request please, is this the right places?- Mike Patton of Faith No More, Mr Bungle etc etc in his band "Mondo Cane"covering a 1960's Italian song-Performance Live at Paradiso Amsterdam (2008) song is "storia d' amore" its fantastico!!!!

You are so funny Ken. Kind of like a younger, but better looking, Conan O'Brien. Your reaction videos are addicting to watch.

you didn't even comment on the distortion man at 6:25 :')

Good review, I'm new and subscribed, Rammstein review brought me to you. Ohne Dich may be worth a look :D. Cheers!

💕

It's interesting seeing the different opinions of vocal coaches as Sam Johnston had a very different view on various bits.

It's Hozier like cosier.

I feel as uncomfortable as you said he is now. I'm mad at you for making me notice he's uncomfortable, lol.

Great reaction/analysis, as always! :) Please react to Morgan James and PMJ doing a version of this song - it is AMAZING! Until next time, take care :)

if you want to try something different, try Klaus Nomi (Klaus Nomi - Total Eclipse 1981(pop) or (Klaus Nomi - The Cold Song 1981(classic)) ... a Mezzosopran :)

Pleeeeease, please, check out benjamin clementine adios live at burberry show, it's such a feast for ears and eyes both! He's just ethereal!

I subscribed!

Not sure Hozier is going to take singing advice from a random bloke on KZfaq. He’s done quite well for himself signing the way he does.

Please react to anything by p!nk when she does her amazing vocals whiles doing acrobatic 👌🏼 A more amazing artis does not exist , singing live, putting on a show and being an amazing human.

I just subscribed, have you ever reacted to anything by skid row? Sebastian Bach has a phenomenal voice

react to you're a mean one mr. grinch | voiceplay feat. adriana arellano

I subscribed

Imagine that, you’re overly critical of someone you couldn’t possibly imitate.

I subscribed! I would love to see you react to Lanie Gardner singing Dreams by Fleetwood Mac. 🙂

Nah, I at least appreciate the honest look and listen.

That seemed to be an awkward recording ... and I've never heard him sing this song with backup singers. To me, it seemed that Hozier was simply trying to be heard. I'm sure the acoustics there were atrocious. Hozier does seem to make those smile-like mouth gestures at certain times in his singing, consistently not randomly ... I think that is simply how he sings certain notes or whatever. A personal flare. I feel like this is the best informal recording of Hozier singing his best song: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ndWie8p_usqViac.htmlsi=EDr1j3HrE-9O2GBH

You should react to The Trinitones doo-wop cover of Beautiful Girls by Sean Kingston.

now i recomend the agonist take me to church

Lots of psychoanalysis here that is VERY off. I say this as a person with a psychology degree. You may need to see more Hozier performances to not only know his style more but also because this is him being very animated and passionate. His "rough edges" are a stylistic choice. He's not a classical singer. He's come up singing Irish folk music.