Open wide, the third studio album from Inhaler, is their attempt to blossom into a fresh sound but the Dublin born indie rock band seem to wilt before reaching their true potential.
The album opens strong with ‘Eddie in the darkness’, a song full of thick bass lines and lingering backing vocals embodying the brooding feel the track gives off. It’s a track which showcases the talent of the band, a song which honestly should’ve been a single. Amongst the actual singles, ‘Your house’ stands out the most, with a gospel choir harmonizing the lyrics ’I’m going to your house tonight’, that belt out of front man Elijah Hewson’s mouth.
While ‘Your house’ is a great introduction into the album, its strikingly different from anything else the band have put out before, most probably due to bringing in producer Kid Harpoon to work on the album. Harpoon has seemingly changed the directory of Inhaler’s sound, on the first listen of ‘Your House’ I honestly thought it could fit right onto the track list of Harry Styles’ most recent album Harry’s House, another album Kid Harpoon produced.
The track ‘Question of you’ is a favourite of mine. Catchy and rhythmic, with a perfect guitar riff to build into the chorus. Pop music from a rock band done right. The guitar solo on this song, albeit short, does all the difference in making this a standout song for me (top of my Spotify wrapped I might add). Inhaler’s guitar solos are something I love about their music. The song ‘It won’t always be like this’ features one of the most iconic examples of the form from lead guitarist Josh Jenkinson. It’s a solo the band are yet to top.
Further into the album, the eighth track, ‘All I got is you’, starts off strong. Echoing backing vocals accompany an interesting guitar and strong drumbeat, but that strong beat blends into the following songs, ‘Still young’ and ‘The charms’, and this part of the album begins to feel like a monotonous chunk rather than individual tracks. One of the last tracks on the album, ‘X-ray’, brings the vibe back momentarily, a strong and powerful tune made to be played live, but the spark present at the beginning of the album seems to have been lost along the way.
Fans’ Opinions
With the album being quite different to their previous style, I’m interested to know what fans think. I spoke to Lois Wilson, 19, from Belfast, who is a super fan of the band. “It definitely is different, but I don’t dislike it,” she told me, “but I hope they go back to a more rock sound with their next album”. I also spoke to Lydia Abbott, 22, from Liverpool who has seen the band nearly 40 times over the past few years. “I think it’s really great that they’re trying a different style,” she said. “They haven’t really blown up yet so I get why they’re branching out a bit”.
While this album is definitely good and has plenty of quality music, compared to the band’s previous work it suddenly falls flat. They seemed to have hopped on a bandwagon they have no need to be on in the first place, an attempt at becoming more pop rock, than indie rock. Ultimately, the band have done well at branching out from their usual sound and are clearly a talented bunch. I can’t say the same for producer Kid Harpoon, who needs to learn to keep his hands off of gritty indie rockers.
If you missed the headline tour for Open Wide, there’s no need to worry. Inhaler are back on tour this month with dates in Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands. They’re also supporting Foo Fighters on their ‘Take Cover’ tour, with a date at Anfield Stadium on the 25th of June.
