Released on the 13th of October this hotly awaited EP hints at what is about to come from Kodaline’s third album. The EP demonstrates the talents and changes to the vibe of the band and works to excite avid fans of what is to come next year. With four tracks included, the EP gives a flavour of their move away from indie folk as they head towards pop vibes, as seen within their second album, Coming Up For Air.
Song by Song review:
- I Wouldn’t Be– The first song on the EP holds a big role in setting the tone for this release. An acapella opening by lead singer, Steve Garrigan, combined with harmonies from the whole band creates an atmospheric piece. Uilleann pipes are brought in towards the end of the track and incorporate the Irish rooted touches the band always strives for. The lyrics are focused upon their upbringings and the importance of family shaping them as people and a band, giving a personal account of their successes. Overall, the song has a choir like feel to it and is unlike many of their previous tracks.
- Ready to change– The quick transition into perhaps the catchiest song of the EP creates quite a contrast from ‘I Wouldn’t Be’. However, this song has potential to do well in the charts due to its catchy lyrics and upbeat pop chorus. On first listen of this song it was my least favourite of the EP (perhaps an old school fan of Kodaline), however overtime it’s become my favourite to sing along to and could easily be danced to. Out of all the songs I feel this has the most boyband flare to it with a mixture of Take That and Snow Patrol coming through at times. This is the only song on the EP to have an accompanying music video, which illustrates the underlying message within the song. Once again, they have produced well thought out story to go with the song and hopefully we can expect the same for the songs on the upcoming album.
- The Riddle- Unsurprisingly this is the ‘love song’ within the EP and brings the tone back down for the album. This is a song with developing layers from the softened electronic loop added in the background to the lead vocals and various other elements being intertwined throughout, to reach a combined ending. Out of all four songs this one draws from both the 2013 and 2015 albums, offering a combination of the two, again with a pop edge to it.
- Blood and Bones- The fourth and final song of the album is a quiet and slow one created as a tribute to one of the band’s friends, who sadly passed away. This song acts as the perfect tribute by combining all their vocals in soft harmonies and facilitates some tricky solos from the lead singer. This tear jerking track has Coldplay vibes and is one that overtime grows on every listener and Kodaline fans.
Overall
With four very different tracks on this EP it could be considered mismatched in areas however it samples their talents individually and as a band in various areas. Avid Kodaline fans will be aware of their transition towards a pop vibe, the catchy elements in most of these songs could bring in a new crowd of followers. Upon first listen I wasn’t the biggest fan of this EP, however several listens later I would give it 4/5 as each song has grown on me and I think it shows strong potential for their third album, released next year.
The band has also just released their December tour dates for this year, taking place at four locations across the country; Birmingham, London, Glasgow and Manchester.
