Album review: Kodaline In A Perfect World

The story of Kodaline is a reminder of the power of song. When ‘All I Want’ from last September’s Kodaline EP exploded into the public consciousness, it immediately struck a chord, not just with radio programmers, but with music fans of all hues, from the casual pop fiend to the precious indie aficionado. It had a hint of the familiar but the shiny scent of the new. It, we felt, was something special. We were right.
Not for these four Swords lads the fur-coat-and-no-knickers blogging brigade, nor the hype machine. No internet sensations, they. Instead, Kodaline followed the old-fashioned route to success: keep the head down, write great songs, and somebody will notice. It proved such a novelty in this byte-size information-overload age that we all did just that. And how...
Stephen Garrigan’s lilting falsetto has been compared to that of Chris Martin, and Kodaline’s emotive melodies to those of his band, Coldplay – and it’s true there are similarities. Both write the kind of Velcro-clad tunes that attach themselves to the inner lining of your cranium and remain there, limpet-like, for days on end, whether you invited them in or not: ‘High Hopes’, I’m looking at you! Both bands are capable of the kind of anthems that ooze melancholia, dripping their bittersweet sentiments from every couplet, while simultaneously raising you up in a spirit of fellowship: ‘hey,’ songs like ‘One Day’ seem to suggest, “We’ve all had our hearts torn asunder, so why not sing about it?”
Or are we thinking too philosophically about a pop band, albeit one that creates sweeping mini-symphonies with the ease with which other acts bicker in the back of the tour-bus? When the hits come this thick and this fast, the philosophy
can wait!
There’s the jaunty ‘Brand New Day’, the nostalgic ‘Way Back When’, the beautifully haunting choral backing vocals on ‘All Comes Down To’ and the darker hints of ‘Pray’, which is as menacing as Kodaline get – which really isn’t that menacing at all: like a koala bear with fangs. ‘Love Like This’ is a joyous jangly guitar ode to living in the moment, while ‘After The Fall’ has more than a hint of U2 in the way it builds in intensity to a powerful, galloping chorus.
‘Big Bad World’ sees the quartet expanding their lyrical remit from the personal into the universal. Instead of lamenting loves lost, it sees Garrigan musing metaphysical, even pondering the existence or otherwise of the almighty: “Maybe there is no god in the big white clouds up there.”
‘All I Want’ still stands out, however. It’s an extraordinary song, dragging you under its bittersweet, bruised spell, before morphing into the kind of soaring, iPhones-in-the-air ballad that’s going to be a highlight of the festival circuit for many summers to come.
Coldplay made no secret of their ambition to be as big as U2, so what’s wrong with Stephen Garrigan, Mark Prendergast, Vinny May and Jason Boland wanting to be as big as Chris Martin’s mob? Absolutely nothing, and on the evidence of this seriously accomplished debut, they already have them in their cross-hairs.
When the day comes that these guys finally hang up their instruments, they can have a massive second career writing hits to order for the latest pop tarts to spring from Simon Cowell’s toaster. On the strength of In A Perfect World, however, that day will be a long time coming. Until then, sit back and enjoy the ride.

Key Track: 'All I Want'