INHALER: Cuts & Bruises (POP): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Many children of Rock and Metal have decided to follow in the footsteps of their parents, Simon Collins (Sounds of Contact), Joe Sumner (Fiction Plane), Sting's eldest son, Wolfgang Van Halen or Austin Dickinson (As Lions) to name but a few. For Inhaler, Elijah Hewson, offspring of Bono (U2), is at the microphone and on guitar. After a first album entitled "It Won't Always Be Like This" which had the privilege of being the fastest selling vinyl album in the UK this century, Inhaler returned two years later with "Cuts & Bruises", still rooted in the pop movement but with a more assertive personality.

Obviously, growing up with a musician father leaves its mark and Inhaler is no exception. It's impossible not to make the connection with U2 from the very first minutes. The sounds and especially the vocal lines are particularly marked. However, at no time does the notion of plagiarism come to mind. The young band seems to have already found its style and learned from its previous experiences. The production has become smoother, the arrangements seem to be more worked out and the compositions as well as the vocals are a bit more different from the invasive influences that weighed down their previous opus. Finally, the album is bathed in a sort of blissful melancholy, an impression that could already be felt on a few tracks like 'My King Will Be Kind' or 'Totally'.

"Cuts & Bruises" starts with this kind of track with 'Just To Keep You Satisfied', alternating disenchanted verses and electric choruses enhanced by typical Pop choirs. With a much more bouncy rhythm, the single 'Love Will Get You There' doesn't stray far from the original recipe with its sunny, catchy melody that gets stuck in the mind. 'Closer to the spirit of 'It Won't Always Be Like This' and more straightforward, 'These Are The Days' brings a little more dynamism, followed by the slow, 70's influenced 'If You're Gonna Break My Heart'. And even though the following tracks are not lucky enough to be located at the beginning of the album, they are almost all worth mentioning, be it the nostalgic 'Perfect Storm', the upbeat 'Dublin In Ecstasy' or the disillusioned 'Valentine'.

Aimed primarily at FM pop fans, 'Cuts & Bruises' may well appeal to a slightly more demanding audience. The album is coherent, fluid, the frills are numerous, the slight experimentations bring a bit of variety inside some compositions and the listening remains pleasant as well as you are attentive or not. Inhaler is not yet the band that will revolutionize the genre but it is already a worthy representative of it. - Official website

INHALER

CUTS & BRUISES

POLYDOR

POP