ADRIAN THRILLS reviews Open Wide by Inhaler: Has Bono’s son’s band finally found what it’s looking for?
INHALER: Open Wide (Polydor)
Verdict: Broadens their horizons
As the eldest son of Paul Hewson — aka U2 singer Bono — Eli Hewson knew that choosing a career in music would leave him open to the inevitable ‘nepo-baby’ accusations that are often levelled at the offspring of the rich and famous. That didn’t deter him, though, and his band Inhaler have been vindicating that decision ever since the release of their lockdown-delayed 2021 debut album.
Ignoring the advice of his parents, who wanted him to go to university, Eli and his bandmates — guitarist Josh Jenkinson, bassist Robert Keating and drummer Ryan McMahon — began gigging relentlessly and topped the UK charts with that first release, It Won’t Always Be Like This.
They’ve since racked up 250 million streams online, and toured with artists as diverse as Harry Styles, Arctic Monkeys and Pearl Jam. Alongside Sam Fender and fellow Dubliners Fontaines DC, the group, who formed as teenagers at St Andrew’s College, have helped to spark a fresh interest in young rock acts.
Their third album, Open Wide, sees a change of gear. Working with Styles’s producer, Kid Harpoon, they’ve edged away from the widescreen guitars of their debut and its 2023 sequel, Cuts & Bruises, and embraced a brighter sound based on potent hooks and harmonies. There are nods to Americana and gospel. The album title suggests a broadening of horizons, and the music bears that out.
‘This album is about trusting your gut,’ says Hewson, 25. ‘It feels like we made so many right decisions by doing just that, and we had a good time doing it as well. We were by the sea, writing the songs, and it took us back to those days when we were kids starting the band.’
Eli Hewson, son of Paul Hewson — aka U2 singer Bono and lead singer of Inhaler
Inhaler began topped the UK charts with that first release, It Won’t Always Be Like This
There are moments when Eli’s voice will remind listeners of his dad’s expressive Celtic roar. ‘The flames went higher, ’cause we’re still young,’ he sings on Still Young, a song that soars in the majestic manner of early U2.
There are further echoes on Again, a song about growing up and the prospect of one day becoming a parent. ‘Talk yourself into settling down,’ sings Eli. ‘In above your head, in a room of babies crying.’
Elsewhere, All I Got Is You has a title that’s awfully close to U2’s All I Want Is You. But Inhaler are finding their own niche.
Eddie In The Darkness, about resisting rock and roll cliches, has a slick Californian sheen, and Your House boasts the stomping feel of a 1970s glam-rock hi.
Billy (Yeah Yeah Yeah) sees Hewson reflecting on a romantic relationship in its tentative early stages — ‘If I come a little too close, should I walk away?’ — while Jenkinson’s fluent guitar work steals the show on A Question Of You.
Kid Harpoon, who co-wrote Harry Styles’s As It Was and co-produced Miley Cyrus’s Flowers, applies a similarly smooth, mainstream pop glaze to Even Though, suggesting that Inhaler have their sights set firmly on bigger things.
Open Wide is out today. Inhaler start a tour tonight (Feb 7) at O2 Academy, Leeds (ticketmaster.co.uk).
