Orchids shoot upwards from a single point. Their stem and flowers stretch from one inseparably tangled mass of roots. Perhaps this imagery was the exact thinking behind the artwork for the third studio album of Irish sound-florists, Inhaler. Their Joy Division meets Radiohead feel coupled with an ambition and work ethic to rival any emerging band of the last five years has made for a group who not only understand where they come from, but, as they continuously turn to face the sun, know just where they are headed.
With Open Wide, Inhaler deliver a masterclass in what it means to be nurtured by inspiration and blossom with grace into your own voice.
‘Eddie In The Darkness’ ushers in a daring new era. One drenched in experimental production, courtesy of Kid Harpoon, with such texture you can almost feel it turning stale air into tangible, fuzzed-up soundwaves. Flicks of piano soon give way to a bursting palpitation of guitar and synth, held together by the slickness of Elijah Hewson’s vocals. Inhaler haven’t gone full pop, but ‘Eddie’ sounds fit to explode.
‘Billy (yeah yeah yeah)’ takes drags from the smoke to reveal a softer, more composed form of storytelling. A dewy question falls from the chorus – “If I come a little too close, should I back away?” – with Hewson’s voice appearing as a perfumed instrument of its own. Jenkinson’s guitar is tight and simplistic, but it holds you in the song, guiding your hips and allowing your thoughts to dance in the garden. There’s a prickle to his playing which makes sense for a song wrestling with self-doubt. For all their newfound confidence, this album is still simply soundtracking the lives of four friends who are made of questions as much as experiences. Sometimes they’ll be wrangling butterflies and sometimes they’ll be strutting with feathers.
With its perfect, puncture you with a stiletto type beat, ‘Your House’ is undeniably the latter. Conviction bleeds through the lyrics, “Oh love, there ain’t a sharp enough knife to cut me out of your life, I’m going to your house tonight,” like the bitterest sap. Meanwhile the composition and gospel flourishes are borderline mouth-watering. Truly Inhaler at their strongest. Somewhere between here and the shimmering single ‘A Question of You’, guitar goes glam. So much so you can imagine the choir in full eye makeup.
‘Again’ and ‘Open Wide’ plunge deeper to mark the album’s emotional centre. The bass of the former tries nestling its way into your gut while the title track drapes itself over a delicate kickdrum and wistful guitar combo. Lines like, “this life is heavy, it tears at your sleeve sometimes,” and “you can’t reverse the beautiful things you said,” expertly curl their way around the strings. Together, they kind of summarise the album perfectly.
The majority of the album is freckled with synths, most immaculately on ‘Even Though’ and again on ‘All I Got is You’ which has a Roses-esque tint to its main riff. In all cases, its usage is best described as musical punctuation, from spritely exclamation marks to doubtful ellipses.
Despite being planted in Dublin, the band have previously discussed their infatuation with New York City which inspired much of the album’s energy. The hum of America is never stronger than in ‘Still Young’ which slinks into the cadences of Springsteen with a youthful, modern twist. ‘X-Ray’ however, sounds much closer to their contemporary peers with dense guitar that could have been ripped straight from the grooves of Arctic Monkeys’ Suck It and See. Both tracks are underscored once again by Hewson’s heady vocal performance where something about his tone compels you to collapse into the song’s embrace. Between these two sides of the Atlantic lies ‘The Charms’ an ambient drifter of a song that’s pleasant, if a little swallowed by the tracks that surround it.
The same may be said for ‘Concrete’ however, ‘Little things’ grows thorns just where the album needs it most. Teetering on the edge of a great love, it declares through gritted teeth “nothing’s gonna change the way I feel…” Overall, it’s the album’s lasting promise. A promise to try, to continue to love or to resent, all witnessed by hypnotic, clenching chords.
This album is not the sound of a band who have everything figured out, in fact, it’s the sound of a band who realise nobody ever does. But it understands itself – inviting and mature as an orchid in full bloom. At its heart, Open Wide is an ode to living. To changing. A quartet of roots leading to one, fighting flower. Pop infused and beautifully confused.
Inhaler: Open Wide – Out 7 February 2025 (Polydor)
