The debut album by Kodaline, titled ‘In A Perfect World’ showcases the band into the music industry, with an album that continues in the same vein as many indie-pop bands that have preceded them. Echoing the styles of the likes of Coldplay, Kodaline show off their talents as song-writers and musicians, and offer a wonderfully crafted album featuring pleasant vocals and wonderful instrumentals. There’s many strong elements at work here which certainly suggest one of the many reasons why Kodaline are becoming a strong upcoming band. Many elements come together in brilliant style to produce what is a very impressive debut release.
‘In A Perfect World’ seems to echo styles of many established bands, such as Coldplay, and to some extent Death Cab for Cutie. There’s a sort of indie-pop element at the core of most of the music on ‘In A Perfect World’, which Kodaline seem to utilize very effectively. There’s some wonderful themes and ideas present in the music, which comes across to create what is a nice and enjoyable music experience. What is nice is how Kodaline seem to be utilizing their talents to create good music, rather than just doing the bare minimum and creating simple and uninspired music which is so often done in the genre. There’s an element of simple honest music that just sounds nice.
For all the elements of ‘In A Perfect World’ that work, it is marred by the somewhat predictable elements the band has used for some of the tracks. Whilst Kodaline have produced an album that is a step above the bog-standard indie-pop/rock experience, it is also a step below those who push themselves to really create something that is interesting and different. ‘In A Perfect World’ is certainly enjoyable and nice sounding, but it seems like a safe-bet by the band, in that they’ve not really tried anything that truly sets them apart from those who have preceded them. The album and it’s tracks are enjoyable, but it feels like Kodaline are perhaps capable of doing just a bit more.
Kodaline haven’t done anything truly wrong on their debut effort, and in fairness to them, most of the elements and styles utilized on the album come together very well. It certainly paves the way for the upcoming band, and suggests what is hopefully, more good things to come from them. Their debut effort is impressive in terms of the crisp clean sound produced by the band, though it does leave a note of wanting just a little bit more from the band themselves. Perhaps this will be something we’ll get to see in the future though. I certainly hope so, otherwise there’s a chance that Kodaline will fall into the hole of typical cliched indie-pop/rock bands. For now though, they’re certainly on the right path.
Album Rating:
- ★★★★☆ 4/5
Selected Songs:
- Love Like This
- High Hopes
- All Comes Down
- Pray
Kodaline’s debut album ‘In A Perfect World’ is out now.
The CD Critic 