They just wrapped two sold out shows at the iconic Troubadour, they killed it on Kimmel, and their 2022 is full of tour dates through August. While Irish band Inhaler may have gotten some attention for front-man Elijah Hewson being the son on U2’s Bono, the gents are proving to be worthy of their own success.
Inhaler’s debut album, “It Won’t Always Be Like This,” was released this summer and obviously, it’s a hit. You don’t get on Kimmel, Noel Gallagher’s summer 2022 tour, and all the European summer festivals if you suck.
Formed in 2012 in Dublin, Inhaler consists of Hewson (vocals and guitar), Robert Keating (bass), John Jenkinson (guitar), and Ryan McMahon (drums). They began releasing singles in 2018 with “I Want You,” and planned to release an album in 2020. But. That pandemic thing. It did give them the opportunity to take their time and it worked: the album debuted at number one on the UK and Irish music charts. Singles “Cheer Up Baby,” “It Won’t Always Be Like This,” and “My Honest Face” already had a following and their placement on the album certainly helped. (Something else they did right was bump Olivia Rodrigo’s “Sour” off the number one spot – no offense!)
At the time, the band said, “We can’t believe our album has gone to number one. From starting off in small clubs in the UK to where we are today, never did we think during the making of this album that this would be possible for us four chancers.”
While much attention is put on Hewson due to his family (and familiar voice), the band told Rolling Stone they are a “democratic affair.” The guys met in school and have been growing up together, becoming a “real” rock band with a deal with Interscope Records. Their love of music includes inspiration from Nirvana, Metallica, New Order, Depeche Mode, and Sonic Youth, but the band name? That is courtesy of Hewson’s asthma. “Everybody saw the band as quite nerdy and geeky and we thought it was cool,” Hewson told Rolling Stone. “I had asthma for a while and people just kind of started calling us the Inhalers. It was something that stuck. It felt right.”
Their indie-rock sound has been gaining fans all across Europe, and now the US, as they just wrapped their jaunt. If you missed them this go around, they will be back for another US tour that runs through March and April 2022.
