Hozier has dropped his first set of new music since his breakthrough 2014 self-titled album, which contained the smash “Take Me to Church.” The four-track Nina Cried Power EP (Columbia), features a pair of legends: Mavis Staples, who applies her force-of-nature voice to the title song, and Booker T Jones, whose signature B-3 churn graces several tracks.

The EP has zoomed to #2 at iTunes. Sample it here.

Hozier says of the title song, penned sometime last year, "My aim was to credit the actuality of hope, solidarity and love found in the human spirit at a time when their opposites were being given a mainstream platform 24/7. The song started as a tongue-in-cheek inquiry into modern popular language regarding political awareness and grew from there. In many ways the song is a thank you note to the legacy of artists from the 20th century whose work still inspires us and whose well we draw from in times of uncertainty. Mavis Staples is one such artist. Getting to work with her on this song was a joy and nothing short of a dream come true.”

“Oh, ‘Nina’ is gonna wake the world up,” Mavis predicts. “Such a huge sound, it could shake the Earth. [It’s] filled with soul, passion and fire, and it channels the struggles of some of my contemporaries. I’m telling you when you hear it, it’s going to drive you to rise up.”

“Hozier is a rare artist who remains a wellspring of creativity,” Booker T offers. “Like a baby who never becomes a child, he lingers selflessly at the source, rendering one fresh song after the other.”

Hozier’s sold-out, 17-city North American headline tour begins next week at Ottawa’s CityFolk Festival, with dates at New York’s Beacon Theatre and L.A.’s Wiltern as well as Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival and Austin City Limits.

Track list:

Nina Cried Power
NFWMB
In Moments Silence (Common Tongue)
Shrike