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We recently interviewed and filmed a live session with The Cast of Cheers, a fantastic four piece from Dublin. Now it's time to talk about four different lads from the Irish capital; may we introduce, Kodaline.
If the angular math-rock sound of The Cast of Cheers is on one side of the spectrum, then Kodaline are certainly on the other; what we have here is soft yet strangely ominous rock, with a hint of the psychedelic. Sound a bit odd? Well it is, but it's also well formed, accomplished and beautifully crafted.
'A hundred thousand butterflies floating in the orange skies above my head.' This might sound a little like something your dad plays you when he’s had a few too many G&T’s, but the trippy acoustic sound that Kodaline achieve on ‘Lose Your Mind’ is something rarely produced these days.
However it’s not all peace, love and acid; on a soon to be released ep, Kodaline exercise their talents in crafting different sounds. ‘Perfect World’ is straight up guitar-based rock, and although it carries the same far-off vocals of lead singer Steve Garrigan, it’s more a Coldplay stadium rock sound than something to listen to whilst taking mushrooms.
‘Pray’ also appears on the ep, and again presents a slightly different sound. It’s certainly heavier than the other tracks, both in sound and lyrics. With lines such as ‘I drink alone to stop me from weeping’, ‘Pray’ makes Kodaline sound like they’re trying to pick up where Jeff Buckley tragically left off.
In our opinion, Kodaline’s best track is ‘Big Bad World’, and can be found in acoustic-session form on their Youtube channel. Possibly the most well rounded of all their songs, the track features a sincerity that doesn’t seem as evident in their other work.
Scroll down to watch the video for ‘Perfect World’, and make sure to keep an ear out for Kodaline – ‘The Kodaline EP’ is released on September 9th.
