‘Inhaler‘ is the first single to be released from Miles Kane’s upcoming solo album and if this song is anything to go by, his new record will definitely be worth giving a listen upon its release. A no-frills, straight to the point song, ‘Inhaler‘ begins with an unrelenting riff that only subsides to make room for the equally aggressive and extremely infectious chorus.
With biting guitars and attacking drums, the vocals are effortlessly but powerfully delivered by Miles, with prolonged howls thrown in every now and again to spike the songs energy levels. Beautifully thrown into the mix are the choric backing vocals of what sounds like female gospel singers during the titular chorus; a magnificent addition to the song.
The energy and pace of the song are more in tune with Miles’s work with The Rascals than The Last Shadow Puppets, and fans of his earlier work with the former should be pleased. Lyrically speaking there isn’t that much depth to the song, albeit compared to his previous work; however, the lyrics do not seem to be the focal point of the song so this is not an issue. The ‘selling point’ seems to be the element of malicious intent that drives it from beginning to end.
Amidst the pretty chaos is a short and sweet guitar solo that rapidly builds up and devolves into a haunting series of notes, all in time for one more chant of the chorus and a final run-through of the brilliant riff. There is an air of ease around the songs execution which can only be credited to Miles’s ability as a songwriter and it will be interesting to see what direction his other songs go with regards to his back-catalogue of story-driven and lyrically complex songs.
(Femi Fadero)
