By Mia Zajac
Hi everyone welcome back! In today's post, we’re going to be talking about the Irish Rock band Inhaler! The band is native to Dublin Ireland and is composed of Elijah Hewson on guitar and lead vocals, Ryan McMahon on drums, Bobby Skeetz on bass, and Josh Jenkinson on lead guitar. The band was formed in 2012 (but Josh wasn't there yet so it was like not officially Inhaler) and they decided on the name Inhaler in 2015. The band has released ten singles so far, my top three being I Want You (fave <3), Ice Cream Sundae (second fave), and Cheer Up Baby (third fave). On February 17th, 2023, the band released their second album Cuts & Bruises so today we’re going to talk about it! For this review we’re focusing on my top songs from the album otherwise this article would actually be ten pages long.
Left to right: Josh Jenkinson, Ryan McMahon, Elijah Hewson, and Bobby Skeetz
I had to obviously stay up and do a crazy huge awesome fun slay listening party consisting of so many people (just me). The album consists of three singles; These are the Days, Love Will Get You There, and If You’re Gonna Break My Heart. Out of those three singles, my top one is 100% If You’re Gonna Break My Heart and it's at #3 on my list (don't hate me for not starting at #1 my bad). It was the last single released on February 1st 2023 before the album came out which was released on the 17th. The song is slow and definitely personal, watching videos of Elijah singing this you can see the raw emotion he's showing. This checks out considering he is credited as one of the writers on the song as well as Josh, Bobby, and Ryan respectfully. Keep in mind while rating my favorite songs from this album I am taking into consideration how excited I am to see them live. This album is pretty different from their first one, It Won't Always Be Like This, as they're kind of moving away from the super specific Irish Rock genre and I'm actually here for it. I can appreciate artists going outside of their comfort zone while making an album, it allows fans to see how they're growing through their music.
It Won't Always Be Like This and Cuts & Bruises
Another stand-out song from this album and my fave at #1 is So Far So Good. I know I’m being biased since this is my favorite song but it’s actually really amazing. It starts off calm then going into the chorus they bring in the star of this song, Josh Jenkinson on the guitar. You can really hear Elijah’s vocals in this which I prefer compared to some of the other songs on the album where you can’t hear them as well. The bridge, as you guys know, is my favorite part and it’s pretty solid in So Far So Good, I do wish it was just the vocals with guitar and bass because drums can be a little bit overpowering sometimes, but you guys can judge for yourself as I am gonna preface, I am NOT a musician. But I am gonna judge because as a fan that’s what I’m here for.
Continuing our rating Valentine is up next at #2, another slowish song on the album but that’s one of my favorite things about Cuts & Bruises, it really helps differentiate itself from It Won't Always Be Like This. It’s a really cute song and I hate them for not releasing it as a single on actual Valentine's Day, but we can’t get everything we want all the time now, can we? There’s nothing typically special about it that makes it stand out but again Elijah just sounds so amazing on it that it has to be on my list.
Next up we have another single These Are The Days at #4, this single was released on September 30th, 2022, as the first single off of the album. The only way I can describe the song is you would 1000% play it while driving home from the beach with all the windows down. So basically it's my type of song.
And at #5 we have Love Will Get You There. This single was released on October 13th, 2022, and my reason for this being on my list is dumb. They made a music video for it and it's actually the best thing I've ever seen. Whoever is on their marketing team that pitched that idea I'm in love with you(platonically)(maybe). But, don't worry the song's pretty solid too. I recommend going and watching the music video though because it's actually really creative.
Overall the album is pretty good! I wouldn’t say it beats It Won’t Always Be Like This, and the one stupid reason for that is because I want more of Bobby Skeetz singing. Sorry, guys I know that’s the smallest thing ever but oh well. He just makes Slide Out The Window even better and I’m actually gonna slide out of a window if we can’t get another major Bobby singing moment. I’m so excited to see Inhaler on this tour because all of my top songs from this album are on the set list <3. I would kill for I Want You and Ice Cream Sundae but they're older songs that did come out in 2018 and 2019 but a girl can still dream.
I really recommend listening to Inhaler in general as they’re a really talented band who deserves all the hype and as much as I want to gatekeep them I know I can’t forever. Go listen to their newest album Cuts & Bruises and come back here because I want to know everyone’s top 3 off of the album!
See you guys next week :)
Nice job