Hozier Is Suing Chilly Gonzales for Claiming ‘Take Me to Church’ Plagiarizes Feist

In a recent episode of his Pop Music Masterclass -- a YouTube series for Germany’s WDR network 1Live -- Canadian artist Chilly Gonzales suggested Feist should take Hozier to court over the similarities between the latter’s hit, “Take Me to Church,” and the former's “How Come You Never Go There.” Instead, as Entertainmnet.ie reports, Hozier is taking legal action against Gonzales, accusing him of defamation.

Gonzales’ Pop Music Masterclass deconstructs pop songs to their foundational elements, and while the Canadian musician disclosed that he and Feist are frequent collaborators, he also made a decent case for Feist’s influencing hand in “Take Me to Church.”

“I’m being told by the research staff that Feist’s track came out well over a year before Hozier’s,” Gonzales commented in the video. “Doesn’t look good does it? ‘Take Me to Church’? Maybe Feist should take him to court.”

In fact, “How Come You Never Go There” appeared on Feist’s 2011 full-length, Metals, while “Take Me to Church” arrived on Hozier’s self-titled debut last year. Take a listen to both tracks at the bottom of the page.

Hozier has taken issue with the claims Gonzales made in the video, which has since been taken down, and filed a lawsuit against the Canadian musician in Ireland’s High Court. Hozier's manager Caroline Downey called Gonzales’ assertions “groundless.”