Meet Your New Favorite Band: Inhaler

Are you looking to get into new artists? Look no further! I’m here to introduce you to Inhaler. They are an Irish rock band formed in Dublin, Ireland. Members include vocalist and guitarist Elijah Hewson, bassist Robert Keating, guitarist Josh Jenkinson, and drummer Ryan McMahon. I discovered Inhaler because they opened for Arctic Monkeys. They have opened for many other artists, including Harry Styles, Pearl Jam, and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. They currently have two albums out, It Won’t Always Be Like This and Cuts and Bruises. With their third album Open Wide releasing very soon, this is the perfect time to dive into their discography. Their music is Indie Rock with elements of Pop as well. Several artists influence them, some include The Stone Roses, Joy Division, Echo & The Bunnymen, and Depeche Mode.

If you’re looking for a guide on what the must-know Inhaler songs are, we can start with their debut album. As a first-time listener, I would check out “It Won’t Always Be Like This”, “My Honest Face” and “Who’s Your Money On? (Plastic House.)” Some of the more deep cuts that are my favorite include “In My Sleep”, “My King Will Be Kind” and “Slide Out The Window”. This album was put out in 2021 after the global pandemic. Naturally the album tackles living in those strange times and not knowing if they’d ever be able to play as a band again. It’s an album that is very much inspired by dreaming in your youth.

For their second album Cuts and Bruises, I would recommend “These Are The Days”, “Dublin in Ecstasy”, and “Love Will Get You There” as the must-know tracks. My personal favorites include “The Things I Do”, “Now You Got Me” and “Valentine”. This album focuses more on the band’s relationship with each other. It’s an album about loving your friends and the band’s commitment to each other, them knowing that they have to look after one another. You can also feel the more American influences on this album, specifically in “If You’re Gonna Break My Heart” you’ll notice the influences from Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.

Last Fall Inhaler embarked on a short North American tour, and I had the opportunity of seeing them from a rooftop in New York City to multiple cities in California. During this tour, they started to tease new songs and eventually announced their new third album Open Wide. There was a rotating setlist that included the then-unreleased songs. I was fortunate enough to hear “Your House,” “Open Wide,” “A Question Of You” and “Eddie in the Darkness.” It was a thrill to get to hear a new different song every night and to hear the classics from the first two albums as well.

Inhaler will be going on the Open Wide World tour that kicks off this February. They’ll be playing the House of Blues here in Houston on March 17th, St. Patrick’s Day and you won’t want to miss it! These Irish rock stars are gonna go far.