Dublin-based indie-rock band Inhaler release 'Cuts & Bruises'
The Dublin-based rock group Inhaler (affectionately named for lead singer Elijah Hewson’s teenage asthma) gained sudden fame after the 2021 release of their first album, It Won’t Always Be Like This. The Irish foursome consists of lead singer Elijah Hewson, bassist Robert Keating, drummer Ryan McMahon, and lead guitarist Josh Jenkinson. Inhaler is working to redefine guitar-led rock, their genre being a healthy mix of classic rock, alternative, and boy-band pop.
Cuts & Bruises starts off with Just To Keep You Satisfied, a mellow, intimate song that feels like a new beginning. The smooth strumming of a guitar paired with an uplifting drum beat and lyrics like, “It was early in the morning/The first day of the week,” makes this song the perfect opener. The “la-la-la” chorus, while slightly corny, is a catchy crowd chant, clearly written with the intention of being performed live.
Next on the album is the Inhaler’s most popular single, Love Will Get You There. This track has a funky bass intro and rather simple, yet upbeat lyrics. Hewson’s silky smooth voice sings about the idea that love can save us, a refreshing change of pace from all of the heart-wrenching music on the charts today. Cuts & Bruises, compared to Inhaler’s initial album, It Won’t Always Be Like This, is much more formulaic than experimental. This can get unoriginal and repetitive, but in Inhaler’s case, it shows that they have defined a unique sound, which is a healthy blend of alternative pop and good old rock-and-roll. So Far So Good is not very memorable, but is an apt description of the album by this point. The song takes a heavier turn away from the upbeat positive pop when Hewson passionately croons, “Lately I’ve been dancing around you, but I can’t think straight/Been avoiding your name, just to get some space/Ain’t it such a shame?”
This is followed by These Are The Days, a definite highlight of the album. Keating’s killer bass line combined with Jenkinson’s overpowering guitar makes for a sound almost reminiscent of Radiohead, while still staying true to their own sound. “These are the days that follow you home/These are the days that kiss you on your broken nose/These are the days I don’t miss the feeling of being alone,” Hewson sings about spending his adolescence with his friends. In this track, Inhaler makes the listeners feel like screaming along in the car with their very best friends, on their way to a party where they’ll go home with someone pretty. These Are The Days brings back some of the youth and playful immaturity from Inhaler’s first album while retaining the high-quality production of Cuts & Bruises. A bit of classic teenage rebellion never hurts and resonates with Inhaler’s primarily young audience.
If You’re Going To Break My Heart slows the tempo drastically, a warm, passionate love song juxtaposing the upbeat, scream-able These Are The Days. This song is extremely intimate and romantic, in a very seventies-Bob-Dylan-slow-dancing-who's-going-to-drive-you-home-tonight way. Hewson vulnerably sings about giving his heart to someone, knowing and accepting that they will break it, yet welcoming that pain that comes with love. The honey-slow, sultry love song compliments Hewson’s voice beautifully, allowing the listeners to focus on the vocals rather than the screaming guitar throughout the rest of the album.
The next track, titled Perfect Storm, continues the slower, more emotional segment of the record. This song has some of the most introspective, beautiful lyrics on Cuts & Bruises, such as when Hewson sings, “In a different time, in a different space, I still want you in my head, still want you in my face.” However, it’s also the eeriest and darkest track on the album. “I hear noises in the wall/Yeah, phone the exorcist/Wake me when he calls,” Hewson begs. Perfect Storm tells the listeners about an immensely painful, yet unforgettable love, defining the cliché of a “perfect storm.”
Dublin in Ecstasy has been long awaited by early Inhaler fans, due to their live performances of the track without releasing a studio version. Cuts & Bruises is evidently a seventies and eighties-inspired album, and this comes to a crux in Dublin in Ecstasy, which heavily brings Springsteen to mind. The album’s energy is brought up again in this track about the one who got away. Hewson watches and pines as someone he loved dances with another. He reminisces on their burning, passionate love, and tells his lover, “You’re not just a friend of a friend of mine,” during the spacey, quiet bridge. Inhaler is a very guitar-led band, and this is heavily displayed in Jenkinson’s rocking guitar solo at the end of this song.
McMahon’s upbeat, anticipatory drumline accompanies Hewson telling the listeners about a past summer lover lingering in his thoughts in When I Have Her On My Mind. Cuts & Bruises is above all, an album about coming of age in one’s early twenties. This is made clear through themes of young love, as shown when Hewson asks, “I don’t wanna burn out baby, so why can’t I stay a while?”
A bit on the nose for a track released on February 17th, Valentine is a stand-out song on the record. Its especially vintage sound is separate from the indie pop formula that the rest of Cuts & Bruises seems to follow. Hewson’s vocals are raw as he begs someone to be his valentine, wearing his heart on his sleeve. Hewson painfully confesses, "I need you on good days and on the bad ones too/They say you're hard to pleasе, but I'll still give myself to you.” Contrary to Valentine, the next track on the album, The Things I Do, is a bitter breakup song. Unlike the other tracks, this song is heavy on piano rather than guitar and is filled with synths. This makes for an angry, biting song, highlighted with emotional lyrics such as “You can’t say I lost myself if you don’t know me at all.”
Cuts & Bruises finishes off with a bang with the electric song, Now You Got Me. The loud, gritty guitar and reverbed vocals sound like high-energy static, bringing the entire album to a climax before coming to an end. Hewson sings of an obsessive love, where he’s willing to do anything and everything for his lover. The theme of young love is continued in this song about the highs and lows of a young relationship. The outro of this track sings, “Now you got me where you want me/Which is nowhere/I’d be nowhere,” bringing Cuts & Bruises to a quiet, sad end, and leaving the listeners wanting more of Inhaler.