Inhaler: Who said nepo babies weren't talented?
Have you ever been in your 20’s completely lost, constantly self-sabotaging and your partner isn’t really helping because oh my god they want stability??! I have the perfect album for you.
I feel like I need to show my Inhaler fan credential before those same 4 girls who somehow are always on barricade at every single concert call me names on Twitter (I don’t actually think they’ll ever read this tbh). I’ve been here since 2022, which isn’t a long time, but it’s time nonetheless.
I go out of my way to not engage with Inhaler fans or content online, you know in order to maintain sanity, therefore going into this album I’d only heard Your House which wasn’t they shiniest moment, so I was scared going in.
The Irish band, Inhaler, released their 3rd studio album on February 7th, 2025. For me, I had to give it a couple of listens before I could say if I liked it or not- but that’s fully on me, because I am a lyric girlie and I went into it expecting some indie rock songs about girls. The final verdict? I really liked it and if this is in any way representative of Inhaler’s future I am looking forward to it.
Their penmanship has improved so much from their I Want You days. I will apologize in advance to all 4 members, because my analysis might be shite.
From the album opener, Eddie in the Darkness, my personal favorite, the seed of self-sabotage and self-doubt is planted. This song, for me, is about going into your dark place, and pushing people away because you don’t want to be a burden to them. I was personally attacked from the very beginning with Eli’s voice screaming into my ear “If I was with you now, I’d say I was fine” and then that chorus… “Eddie’s in the darkness (darkness) doesn’t need to know, what he had to get away from (away from) something tells you, got a little heartless (Heartless) for too long”. Hey, Eli, buddy, what the fuck?
Then they decide to continue to personally attack me, first with my self-sabotage, now with my commitment issues. Billy (yeah yeah yeah). That first verse and pre-chorus are sonically amazing, whatever that is, I need more of it. As a relationshipless, chronically single 21-year-old girl, this song was a rollercoaster of emotion. Starting with “Is this just lust we feel? If so, I’m grateful, I lived in fear of being bored” Alright, fuck me backwards with a chainsaw, Jesus Christ. And then, at the end of the chorus they hit you with repetition “But in this I am all in, all in, all in, All this I’m certain of, I’m all in, all in”.
Even though is thematically very similar to When I have her on my mind from their sophomore album Cuts and Bruises. Have you ever been in a relationship that you know it’s doomed from the start but the sex is good? They do, and hit this poor girl with the chrous “Even though, she’s got the brains to know, and a body that moves, like there’s nowhere to go, even though, all of your friends must know, we’re going nowhere fast, I know you’re not the only one”. That’s heartbreaking stuff right there, bless that poor lady.
“I’ll stay wit you when you are cruel to the violent thoughts in your head, sometimes you’ll do much worse, you can’t reverse te beautiful things you said” “Got my arms out open wide, yeah arms out open wide come on baby take a look inside”. (Track Number 7, Open Wide)
The title track, oh sweet title track. Open Wide is a proper love song. It’s not fluffy and overtly in love, it’s direct. It’s the reality of loving someone through their Eddie in The Darkness phase. I got gut-punched the first time I heard those lyrics.
Special mention to X-ray and “I will chain myself to your soul” because that’s as insane as saying “I love you more than being seventeen”.
I could go on forever over-analysing these lyrics, but I think those are where they shine the most. They shine in their vulnerability, in the gritty, self centered aspects of writing and in their maturity.
Look, I’ve got a personal vendetta against Kid Harpoon, so the fact that the production on some of these songs is clearly subpar just adds fuel to the fire of my deep hatred towards that guy. It’s gritty when it shouldn’t, the vocals are too far away but not in a way that artistically matter. I swear to God, Kid Harpoon, you’ll pay for your crimes against Elijah’s voice. As we’ve established Eddie in the Darkness is my favorite song, she’s my darling, and during the second chorus Elijah says “Got a little heartless, heartless” . I get what they were going for. That second heartless doesn’t sound raspy and cool, it sounds painful, it sounds like nails on a chalkboard. I’m not going to lie to you, dear reader, I thought it was a talent thing from Eli, but then I heard it live and I can attest it is not a him problem. He doesn’t sound like Julian Casablancas in “Is This It?”, he sounds like Julian Casablancas screaming in “Visions of Division”
I think they could’ve chosen their singles better, maybe that’s me being a mainstream-single-hater-gatekeeper-unloveable-asshole, but the rest of the album is objectively better than the singles. The very first song to be out was “Your House” which was announced with the very menacing text that fans got saying “who’s going to your house tonight?”- Should I be expecting someone? Are you going to rob me, Robert? I must admit- that song and All I got is You are my least favorite songs. The next single was A question for you, song that has a mean guitar and a very Duplicity-esque music video (Someone in their team is a fanfiction reader I can tell). The final single was Billy, I adore that song, but it did feel like a very last minute choice.
As an avid Twitter user, I can confirm that you’ll always have some bitch in your ear telling you whatever you’re enjoying is shit, and that February night was no exception. Oh My God Dear Dolly and the heavens above! A group of 4 young people ,who have been making the same type of music for a while now, decided to change their sound slightly? Hang them. Sure, it sounds a little bit pop-ier, but when you sit down to listen to Open Wide, you can see that each individual song has a very distinct backdrop, and that’s what makes the album interesting.
I hate to compare, so that’s exactly what I’ll do. This is their Suck it and See. I can tell they went to America. I can hear the nights out in New York Robert and Elijah had. I can picture them walking around Manhattan and Central Park. I see the New York skyline when I hear this album.
Overall, I think this album is a solid 4 star album. Thematically, they don’t only let you know about how you can go out of your way to kill a relationship because of fear of intimacy, but they let you sit with it, and then all four of them will come to punch you in the gut with how in love they are.
Sonically, I really liked it. People gave Arctic Monkeys shit because they changed their sound, people gave shit Catfish and The Bottlemen for not changing their sound, people gave The Strokes shit for not changing their sound and then gave them more shit when they got cleaner. My point it that no matter what you do, there will be people who don’t like it. I personally think that Inhaler is going in the right direction for them, and that indie rock is not in danger because they’ve ventured slightly out of the genre, Fontaines DC still exists, Wunderhorse, and many other are out there. Give them a chance.
I’m seeing Inhaler live for the first time in March, so I’m very very excited. Obviously the show review will be up the week after the concert.