Though you may have yet to hear of Inhaler, they are no strangers to the music scene. The Irish indie rock band released their sophomore record “Cuts and Bruises” Feb. 17 and it was everything and more for music fans.
Lead singer and guitarist Elijah Hewson, bassist Robert Keating, guitarist Josh Jenkinson and drummer Ryan McMahon make up the Dublin-based band who released their first record “It Won’t Always Be Like This” in 2021. They captured fans’ hearts all around the world leaving everyone anticipating their next release.
Releasing three singles for this album cycle gave fans a taste of the new era that will be coming with the newest record. Songs like “Love Will Get You There” and “If You’re Gonna Break My Heart” let listeners in on what was to come from the upcoming record.
“Cuts and Bruises” is made up of 11 tracks that fit the band’s previous sound perfectly while complimenting their beautiful lyrics. This album seems to be more lyrically mature compared to their previous release and just shows how they have improved as a band and will continue to make amazing music.
The opening of their album is what initially caught the listeners with the track “Just To Keep You Satisfied.” The chorus of “Angels falling by your side, Just to keep you satisfied” instantly draws the listener in and makes every person want to sing along. Along with the lyrics, the music behind them makes every person want to dance and sing along with the entire track just to play it on repeat.
The singles for this album were also amazing choices to encapsulate the overall feeling of love and nostalgia to the tune of a rock song. The song “If You’re Gonna Break My Heart,” the fifth track on the album, has lyrics like “We got caught in the ride of being young and alive,” and “If you’re gonna break my heart, smash it to pieces, ‘cause I’m not gonna need it, as much as I do right now,” which shows this feeling of never-ending love and affection for one person and saying that no matter if that person breaks another’s heart, they will never feel the same love for anyone else.
“So why are we trying to kill something that’s been so good? I can’t explain it now so, why wait?” is a lyric from the stand-out track “Perfect Storm” which is the sixth track on the album. This has a slower introduction in the first half of the song yet picks up in a beautiful cadence. This song perfectly highlights the vocals of Hewson and how his heartfelt words flow with the simple yet perfect musical elements that perfectly coincide with one another.
There is, however, one downside to this album. There is very little variation between tracks. Each track has a very similar sound and overall vibe to it. This record lacks the common “low point” of the album where there would traditionally be a much more slow and heartfelt ballad to bring another emotion to the album. This record seemingly has instead of a musical low, a lyrical low, where the overall sound of a song doesn’t change but the lyrics are deeper and more solemn.
This album leaves listeners pressing the repeat button and yearning to learn every single well-thought-out word and note from each song. Even with the tracks nearly seeming repetitive, it does not take away from how this album is guaranteed to bring more fans to Inhaler’s following and simply add to their ever-growing success.
Follow Keely on Twitter @menyhartkeely
