Album review: Kodaline

Neutral perspectives on Kodaline are few. Depending on your vantage point, the group are either an intriguing Celtic updating of Coldplay or the worst thing to happen to rock music this side of nu-metal.

The Dubliners seem not in the least worried about the love/hate split. With their second album, they briskly double-down on their swooping, soaring sound.

On opener ‘Honest’, frontman Steve Garrigan indulges in that patented Coldplay/Snow Patrol trick of delivering breathy ‘woahs’ in lieu of discernible lyrics; on ‘Unclear’, they draft in Clocks-style twinkling keyboards and Edge-esque guitar shimmers.

To their credit, there are instances when Kodaline, working with Snow Patrol producer, Jacknife Lee, seem open to stepping outside their zone of comfort.

The effervescent synths at the start of ‘Ready’ sound as if they got lost en route to an LCD Soundsystem record; there’s a genuine ‘what the heck?’ moment at the outset of ‘Play The Game’, Garrigan’s vocals sheathed in distortion and a swaggering groove.

Mostly, however, the band stick to the formula that has brought them international success (as well as no end of critical opprobrium).

Fans will be delighted — but for anyone baffled by Kodaline’s initial success, Coming Up For Air is unlikely to revise opinions.