INHALER

Cuts And Bruises (Polydor)

In 2021, Inhaler’s feisty debut It Won’t Always Be Like This hit number one spot on the British and Irish album charts, breaking records for the speed of its vinyl sales in the process. For sheer sonic energy, comparisons could be made to Oasis or Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s debut albums; it might seem like an impossible task to expect this Dublin quartet to outshine IWABLT with Cuts And Bruises, the hotly anticipated second Inhaler album.

Cuts And Bruises came to fruition through burning the midnight oil with in-studio jam sessions when brief gaps became available within Inhaler’s arduous and pressurised touring schedule. The end product, though, impressively manages to outdo It Won’t Always Be Like This for emotionally rich, infectious melodies which reach for the sky. Prime examples of this are Perfect Storm, Dublin In Ecstasy and Love Will Get You There. Suffice to say, there’s been no ‘second album syndrome’ troubling Inhaler. 

words DAVID NOBAKHT