Album Review
November 16, 2024
Inhaler photographed by Lewis Evans
2024 has been a blessed year for music—and just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, my favorite indie band from across the sea comes back from tour with an album announcement, single, and a music video to boot. I guess the Irish really are lucky!
Inhaler announced their upcoming third album, Open Wide, out February 7th 2025. Alongside this, they dropped its first single and accompanying video, “Your House.” The cherry on top came shortly after on November 1st when they announced tour dates too!
Inhaler are a four piece alternative rock band from Dublin consisting of singer Elijah Hewson, guitarist Josh Jenkinson, bassist Robert Keating, and drummer Ryan McMahon. The group are longtime friends, and have been making music together since 2012. It wasn’t until 2016 that Inhaler was born, but the group were performing shows before ever having released or recorded their own music.
I should probably note that Elijah is a nepo-baby; that’s U2 lead singer Bono’s son right there. You’ll hear the similarities in their music, especially in the earlier stuff - I mean this in the most complimentary way possible.
The group began releasing singles in 2018, but the first to really blow up was “It Won’t Always Be Like This,” released March of 2019. Shortly after, the group released their next single and next big hit, “My Honest Face.” Together, these make up their top two most streamed songs on Spotify to this day.
Inhaler put out their first full length album–a namesake of their famous 2018 single–in July 2021. It Won’t Always Be Like This was an album written over the development of the COVID pandemic, themes of mental health issues and personal–as well as social–hardships laced throughout.
Not a single member of Inhaler was older than twenty one in 2020, and much of the album highlights what it was like to lose what was supposed to be our (I say our because of how personal this album came to be for me) golden years to a global pandemic. At the end of the day, despite all the struggles and changes undergone throughout the development of the album, the primary message remains that it won’t always be like this: No matter how good things are right now, it will not stay this way forever; cherish it while it lasts. On the flip, no matter how bad things may get, it will not stay that way forever; push on through.
Between albums, Inhaler stayed busy touring, blessing smaller venues across the Americas, the UK and the rest of Europe. In February 2023, the band released their sophomore album Cuts & Bruises.
Not even a year and a half later, and Inhaler is dropping music again. This group does not mess around, and I envy their seemingly never-ending creativity. What is in that Irish water?
Early in October, Inhaler posted a quick three minute video titled, “Third time’s the charm,” comprised of carefully curated shots: in the studio, in talks with producers, mentions of a tour, and Eli, the lead singer, singing in front of a night vision camera. At the end of the video, there is a man speaking although we can’t see him. He says, “You know what sound you want to come back with, and that’s important to you.”
They let the anticipation simmer until the release of the much anticipated lead single, “Your House.”
“Your House” is an electrifying continuation of Inhaler’s sound from their last album, Cuts & Bruises. They’ve always had an alternative sound, but it wasn’t until 2023 that the group started implementing more and more bass into their music – and I will always say embrace the bass. Oppositely, the chorus is light and dancey, accompanied by bright piano and a high choir of people sounding like it came straight out of a 2000s rom-com.
The music video shows us a woman storming through the streets with a briefcase in hand, making sure to smack it against every obstacle in her path. Inside the briefcase is Elijah, loosely tied up and bloodied. All the damage done to him was undoubtedly caused by the thrashing of the briefcase. The only glimpses he gets of the outside world are through the cracks in the case–yet the first close up of his face, Elijah gives the camera a bloody smile.
At one point, she tosses the briefcase out into the street, where it is promptly run over by a car driven by the rest of the band. After they finish cursing at her, she picks it back up and carries on. She tosses the briefcase onto the ground and throws it against the wall. She kicks it across the floor–all while Elijah sings the chorus: “Maybe I sold love / for what it’s worth on the street / there ain’t a sharp enough knife / to cut me out of your life.”
The chorus ends with this damning line: “I’m goin’ to your house tonight.”
Whoever he sold this love to, it’s clear that it is unwelcome. Despite the abuse and the damage Eli has undertaken, he reminds us of his smile at the beginning of the video. “Your House” is a song about belonging to someone or something and undergoing anything to stay attached.
At the end of the video, the woman takes a peek inside the case. She sees Elijah and his bruised face, and then she tosses it into a river. It sets an intriguing tone that has me even more excited to see what the rest of the album will be like.
Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming singles and tune in to Open Wide February 9th 2025!
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