Confirmed: Inhaler sign to Polydor Records

The rising Dublin band Inhaler have signed a deal with Polydor Records. The deal has proven timely, with the band's new single 'My Honest Face' breaking the 1 million streams on Spotify mark this week. The single has been supported across the board by radio stations throughout the UK and Ireland.

Having completed the long-mooted deal, Inhaler will be heading over to the US for their first dates there, supporting Blossoms, in November. This summer will also see the band playing at Boardmasters, Pukkelpop and – at home in Ireland – Electric Picnic.

Eli Hewson (pictured), the lead singer of Inhaler, is the son of U2 frontman Bono. U2 were noted for also signing to Polydor Records back in 1993, for a deal that was reportedly worth 130 million dollars. Polydor is part of Universal Music Group, which also owns Island Records, to which U2 have long been signed.

In a 2018 interview with Inhaler, Eli spoke about Inhaler's musical influences, as well as growing up in a rock'n'roll household.

“I didn’t really know about my ‘position’ until I was about 10 years old,” he recalled. “I went to Dalkey School Project National School, grew up as a normal kid. OK, I had a bigger house and everything, but I think I considered myself about as privileged as anybody else there. I don’t think I’m treated any differently, even in secondary school.

“I feel it’s different in Ireland,” he adds. “Like, a lot of American kids, or especially in London, they’ll play on it – ‘Oh, my dad’s rich’, you know what I mean? It’s like an ‘I’m better than you’ sort of thing. In Ireland, these lads wouldn’t ever let me say that shit. Like, I’d get a kick in the face… and I’d deserve it!”

Back then, before the record deals were on the horizon, Inhaler's main preoccupation was simply making the music they loved...

“It is a risky business,” he told us. “We knew that going into it, but I couldn’t see myself doing anything else. I think, as a band, we fit together so well – and every time we play together, we just know we want to do it. Obviously I’ve been around music since I’ve been born, but I only really got into rock ‘n’ roll when I was 13. We really believe in our music. Obviously connections are gonna come into play, but that can only get you in the door once.”

The other members of Inhaler are Ryan McMahon, Robert Keating and Josh Jenkinson.