Open Wide review: Inhaler’s muddled foray into pop

Inhaler have a very characteristic sound, and it only takes listening to a few songs from their first two albums, It Won’t Always Be Like This (2021) and Cuts and Bruises (2023), to notice this. Two albums and several big tours and support slots later (Harry Styles, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Arctic Monkeys, etc.) bring us to album three, Open Wide. And while Open Wide still sounds very much like Inhaler, it is the band’s attempt at moving into a field of their own, setting them apart from other bands with a similar sound – think The Wombats, The Vaccines, Circa Waves, and so on. But despite their commendable flirtation with experimentation and move into pop (‘The Charms’, ‘Little Things’, ‘Eddie in the Darkness’) or dabble into garage on the title track, the album ultimately feels like a rehashing of the same handful of songs dressed in slightly poppier production, which, while good, do little in terms of musical progression and evolution.

And while most of the songs on ‘Open Wide’ aren’t bad, per se, they don’t commit wholeheartedly to any one direction

Elijah Hewson’s smooth, adaptable vocals are a natural fit for this brighter, pop-tinged approach. But despite producer Kid Harpoon’s impressive résumé (Harry Styles, Florence + The Machine, Maggie Rogers), his influence on Open Wide leaves many tracks falling flat. Take ‘All I Got is You’: polished to perfection, the track features guitars that mimic 80s disco synths and vocals that could easily find a home on Harry Styles’ Harry’s House. Yet despite its sheen, the song struggles to maintain momentum, with its verses merely stringing together its choruses – the only moments where the song truly comes alive. ‘The Charms’ and ‘Even Though’ suffer from similar shortcomings – a lack of sufficient variation and dynamism that prevents the songs from fully engaging the listener.  And while most of the songs on ‘Open Wide’ aren’t bad, per se, they don’t commit wholeheartedly to any one direction, resulting in an album that lacks any distinctive identity.

On Open Wide, for every step in the right direction, there seems to be an equal opposite step in the wrong direction

That said, the album’s strongest moments emerge when the band commits fully to a given sound. Take ‘Again’, for example, a distressed indie-rock number where Hewson’s lower register blends with a groovy baseline and gritty guitars. Although it echoes their earlier work, there’s a distinct self-assuredness to it that is absent in the rest of Open Wide. Similarly, ‘X-Ray’ combines rock-leaning verses, a retro riff courtesy of guitarist Josh Jenkinson, and choruses that are beautifully, unapologetically pop.

‘A Question of You’ joins Inhaler’s discography as one of their best songs. From the infectious opening riff to the inclusion of a choir to the ingenious line “pour your heart out into my cup”, ‘A Question of You’ is Inhaler at their undeniable best. Meanwhile, ‘Still Young’ is a venture into grandiose arena pop that evokes The Killers, Sam Fender, and Bruce Springsteen with its soaring choruses and unwavering dynamism – a hint for what could be an exciting new direction for the band, should they decide to fully commit to it.

On Open Wide, for every step in the right direction, there seems to be an equal opposite step in the wrong direction and for every bold, confident track, there’s another that retreats into a half-hearted attempt at pop but never fully commits to the sound. While this makes Open Wide arguably Inhaler’s weakest album so far, the glimpses of brilliance scattered throughout suggest that, with refined production and a more decisive creative direction, they could be on the cusp of finding the sound that defines who they are.

Recommended listening: ‘A Question of You’

Words: Sophie Flint Vázquez

Image: Press