What a strange feeling it is to reflect on Kodaline’s origin story. They started as 21 Demands, contestants on the Irish talent show You’re a Star, and from there, things only got madder. Their debut single featured on the soundtrack for Grey’s Anatomy. One of their early tracks became the Gogglebox soundtrack, a long way from how the boys started out busking on the streets of London. Rapidly, they found a very particular fanbase, securing multi-billion-streamed tracks on multiple platforms and charting at No. 2 on the album chart with their fourth release, One Day at a Time. They toured as support for Imagine Dragons and Ed Sheeran, the latter opportunity being more appealing when they did it than it would be now.
That’s Kodaline’s history in brief, but today, we are talking about something else besides the origin story. Actually, quite the opposite: we’re talking about the grand finale, because, sad news, We Were Only Young is Kodaline’s fifth and final album. They broke the news to heartbroken fans on socials: “What we’ve shared with you has changed our lives forever,” they said, noting the importance of rounding things off on their own terms. This is no scandalous break-up story or record label bust-up. Instead, the guys have opted to round off while their melancholic, tender USP still feels fresh, rather than dredging the same shtick up for years and years until it goes stale. That, in itself, is a bold move.
To describe We Were Only Young as bold would be a misdirection. It’s more of the same, but by no means is that a criticism. Kodaline have carved a very specific niche, appealing to generations and masses of devoted fanbases, and to move away from that would be a mistake. What we get is an extended eulogy for a beloved band. All the emotion and sentimentality you have become used to is present throughout the new tracks, but with their finest instrumentation to date, from bucolic guitars to hair-standing-on-the-back-of-your-neck-kinda string sections.
Opening track, “Who Will Save You Now”, is absolute cinema. It belongs on a movie soundtrack and deserves to be played loud. Title track “We Were Only Young”, also the lead single, is the sound of everything Kodaline have worked on coming together to create a sublime crescendo. The track blends Eilish-y pop pianos with precise lyricism immersed in regret and mournful, consistent with the album, in keeping with this hour-long eulogy. When it dropped, one fan on YouTube called it “The sister version of (their 2018 track) Brother”. Long-time aficionados will surely then be equally delighted by the soulful “Back to me”, a dialogue between two lovers that could, in fact, be deeper than that. As a song, it asks you to truly immerse yourself in its world or sit with it in nature. Close your eyes, and you will feel a sense of belonging, of harmony, with the transcendent music.
There’s nothing too complicated or otherworldly about the lyrics, but often, simplicity is the key to nailing a great love song. In “Without You”, the lyrics “There’s one thing I know I’ll never regret, and it’s you, my love,” are too sweet not to be adored. It makes a perfect wedding song, as simultaneously heartfelt and heartbreaking as any first dance must be. One thing’s for sure, Kodaline know how to take their time, building and building over three or four minutes on all these tracks, building to something indisposable and inescapable.
“Get Me High” has some of the finest riffs on the record, while “All I ever need is you” is soppy in the sense that it is kind-hearted and reflective, though not in the meandering sense. It makes good listening to sit in a bedroom and dwell on. As the shortest song on the record, it packs a lot into two minutes. The message? “People grow, and people change, but we will always be the same”. Things pick up with the janky and melodic “Vultures,” the closest on this release we might get to a proper earworm. The bridge is so infectious you can imagine this fast becoming a new tour highlight. Discussing adversity and finding hope on the other side of it, the song’s message is all the more apt when you realise the empowerment of a band who have felt the vibe in the air for when the best time is to stop.
“Last Forever” is the most experimental and dynamic track here, complete with a festive dong, almost harking back to their early talent show band days, with lots of tenderness but also true, pop sensitivities akin to the sort of X Factor ballad that might have reached no. 1 in the early noughties. “Learn to Lose” is a testament to the compelling songwriting for which Kodaline will most especially be mourned. They take a lot of lessons from the Snow Patrol and Keane school of romantic, organic pop, and their instrumentation peaks here with a final few seconds – the singer remarking, awe-stricken, heart-shattered, “It was real love” – a gut punch that might break you if you are emotionally invested in the material.
Also, who can resist a song that opens with a whistle? “Hindsight does,” and it is the mournful, dreamy, wistful sort of music that you want to hear as the sun goes down. The conclusion is that hindsight can be a good thing. “It’s Not Over” pushes us to the end, proving songwriting might just be the best medium to project one’s frustration over the things they never did but that they wished had happened. “It’s not over till it’s over,” says lead singer Steve. Then it is all over with “The One for Me”. How else can you capture the sadness of the band breaking up than with one of their saddest songs yet?
If you love Kodaline, their final album is no exception to their track record of producing beautiful ballads that will feel just as deeply personal to you as they clearly do to the band. You’ll be all the more sorry to let them go when the album strikes its final chord.
