Kodaline - The Kodaline EP

EP review by KevW

Much is made about the inauthenticity of "manufactured" bands. It's as though people expect them to form in the womb and be born into the world as a single entity. All bands are manufactured, as is all music, but Dublin quartet Kodaline must rank highly in the credibility stakes. For those who consider this type of thing important, these guys have been friends since childhood and grew up together in the city. In that respect they're as real as real can be. However, the measure of a band should be in the music they make. If it's a load of old tosh it doesn't matter whether they met in a sandpit aged four or were shoved together by Simon Fuller. Since we posted free download 'Pray' a few weeks back we've been delving a little deeper into Kodaline's world, and now as proud owners of their EP we can say with no small amount of conviction that this music is entirely tosh-free.

'Pray' still sounds like a rousing piece of alt-rock that Radiohead may have made back when they used to bother with proper songs, but it's surpassed by the other trio of songs on this debut. The EP's opener 'All I Want' impresses too, swelling from a gentle and conventional opening to become a soft, harmony-soaked mini-epic, climbing higher once the full band kick in with some rousing backing vocals and an electric finale. 'Perfect World' is a more routine indie-rock shuffle but some neat harmonies give it that element of grace. It's the stunning 'Lose Your Mind' that impresses most though. The intro actually sounds like a song preparing for lift-off, and sure enough it's a blissfully soaring piece of psychedelic space rock. Banish any doubts, these guys know what they're up to and this is a debut of some stature.





Download 'Pray' for free by heading here

Kodaline's website

Stream the EP in full

Pre-order the EP





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