{shortcode-ce68f41b888e15b30ff347ccca3177357024013b}

MEDUZA, an Italian electronic dance music trio known for their hit single “Piece of Your Heart,” recently collaborated with Hozier (Andrew Hozier-Byrne) in “Tell It To My Heart.” While somewhat mainstream, the collaboration is a rather fun and charming piece that captures the characteristic sounds of each artist.

Though the tone of “Tell It To My Heart” is rather frenetic and seemingly upbeat, the song’s lyrics still carry the typical melancholic and somber moods of Hozier’s repertoire. Hozier’s opening lyrics immediately make the theme clear. Bemoaning the fact that his lover is keeping themself closed off from him, Hozier warbles: “I can’t work you out / Are you thinking about something better?” While not a particularly novel theme, Hozier expresses lovely thoughts such as “The only time you smile is in the photographs” and “Whatever time we have I’m not gonna waste / Before we turn to strangers tryna love in the dark.”

The collaboration is a stellar execution. The EDM scene and Hozier is certainly not an expected intersection. “Tell It To My Heart” sounds far different from any of the other works in Hozier’s oeuvre, containing neither the slower tempo “Take Me To Church” made Hozier known for, nor the deep acoustic guitars of “Would That I.” Nonetheless, his sonorous voice that normally lends itself to blues, soul, and gospel perfectly fits the synths and pounding beats of MEDUZA. Just as Hozier sings the chorus “Tell it to my heart” for the second time, MEDUZA replaces the beat of the drum with the sound of an actual heartbeat, while in the music video a metal bust grows around a beating heart. While an unusual and unexpected collaboration, the sound of MEDUZA’s track intertwines nicely with the timbre of Hozier’s voice.