A lot of rock bands go through a “U2 phase”. The description is usually a shorthand for what happens to their sound when they make the move from scuzzier venues into arenas, potentially on the way to stadiums: a grandiose expanding of the guitar-bass-drums format, often with a hefty dose of self-importance thrown in. Coldplay did it before going fully pop, The Killers did it before deciding they preferred to mimic Springsteen, and Radiohead just about sidestepped it altogether, preferring something more abstract.
Young Dublin quartet Inhaler have taken an unavoidable shortcut there on their debut album, thanks to 21-year-old frontman Elijah Hewson’s status as son of Bono. The tone and passion of his singing voice has undeniable similarities, and there’s a scale and ambition to songs such as the propulsive, air-punching My Honest Face, and the slow-burning A Night on the Floor, that suggest his band already has arenas in mind at least.
They were supposed to support Kings of Leon (another once rudimentary rock band with a latterday U2 complex) in Finsbury Park until that giant gig went the way of all the others lately, and confident rockers such as When It Breaks and the title track sound more than ready for such a big space.
This being a band of millennials, however, they try a bit of everything. Aping the frothy pop of The 1975 on Totally is less successful. They’ll probably find it harder than most to develop a sound all their own, but a couple more albums could do it.
(Polydor)
