Kodaline

Swords, a name change, and a chart record set under another name

Kodaline started in Swords, north County Dublin, in 2005, though not under that name. As 21 Demands, Steve Garrigan, Mark Prendergast and Vincent May released "Give Me a Minute" in 2007, and it became the first independently released track to reach number one on the Irish singles chart — a credit the band still carries, earned five years before anyone heard the name Kodaline.

The rename came in 2012, the same year Jason Boland joined on bass and settled the line-up that has not changed since: Garrigan on vocals, guitar and piano, Prendergast on guitar, May on drums, Boland on bass. The group has pointed to Radiohead and U2 alongside Coldplay and Snow Patrol as reference points, which fits the writing that followed — piano and guitar pushed toward a chorus big enough for a room to sing back. Before the records there was busking around Dublin, which is a less flattering origin than most bands claim and probably a more accurate one.

Four records, three Irish number ones, and a song that travelled on its own

In a Perfect World arrived in 2013 and went to number one in Ireland and number three in the UK. "High Hopes" topped the Irish singles chart that year, and "All I Want" did something the band could not have engineered: it was placed in Grey's Anatomy and then in The Fault in Our Stars, and went gold with the RIAA in the United States off the back of screen exposure rather than radio.

Coming Up for Air followed in 2015, another Irish number one and number four in the UK, and it was the point at which the critics stopped agreeing with the charts. DIY gave it two stars and said the band were yet to claim their own territory; AllMusic heard the quieter instincts of the debut traded for something more on-the-nose. Politics of Living in 2018 made number one in Ireland and fifteen in the UK; One Day at a Time in 2020 reached number two in Ireland and thirty-three in the UK. Around the albums sit four EPs, the live record Our Roots Run Deep in 2022, and "Raging" with Kygo — the collaboration that put them in front of a dance audience that had no particular interest in Irish guitar bands.

The pattern across the decade is consistent: a reliable top-three act at home and in Britain, certified in Ireland, the UK, Canada and Switzerland, with a catalogue of three or four songs that are considerably better known than the band who wrote them.

October 2025: the decision, announced plainly

In October 2025 the band posted the end of it. "After over a decade together, we've made the difficult decision to say goodbye to Kodaline," the statement read, with the rest of the plan attached rather than left vague: "We want to end on a high, so before we say goodbye, we're heading into the studio one last time, to record our fifth, and final album."

Two Irish shows were booked first, for summer 2026. The global itinerary came on 23 March 2026, when the band announced Asian, Australian, European and UK legs, with a mailing-list window closing on 24 March, a presale on 25 March and general sale on 27 March at 10am. The sequencing mattered — the tour was sold before the record existed, which is an unusual order of operations and says something about where the band's value actually sat by 2026.

We Were Only Young

The final album came out on 2 October 2026 through Concord: twelve tracks, written across roughly four years, and shaped by a period Garrigan has described in terms of marriage, loss and uncertainty rather than in terms of a career decision. It opens with "Who Will Save You Now", which goes to darker ground than the band's reputation suggests, and closes with "The One For Me". The title track is orchestral and piano-led. "Learn To Lose" sets piano against gospel touches, "Get Me High" runs on vocal harmonies, "All I Ever Need Is You" stays acoustic, and "Vultures" is a folk-rocker aimed at the begrudgers.

The lead single, "Without You", is the one with a story attached: Garrigan wrote it for his wife on their wedding day. "I've never been much of a talker, but I can write a song," was his explanation. On the record as a whole he said: "For something I never thought I'd do, or even get through, I'm very proud of it."

Reviews were warmer than anything since the debut. Hot Press gave it 8/10, with Will Russell calling it a final bow and singling out the way the closing track bookends the opening. Flyctory rated it 3.8 out of 5. The recurring critical note is that the album is about accepting change rather than mourning it — which is a harder register to hold for twelve tracks than self-pity would have been.

Nine months of goodbyes

The Irish shows ran first. Ulster Hall in Belfast on 17 June 2026 worked as a warm-up at theatre scale; Virgin Media Park in Cork followed on 19 June; and Malahide Castle on 20 June sold out at roughly 30,000, an outdoor standing show with gates at 4pm and music from 5pm, supported by The Academic and Nell Mescal.

Asia came in August — Shanghai on the 6th, Singapore's Star Theatre on the 8th, MOA Arena in Manila on the 10th, Seoul's Olympic Hall on the 12th, Hong Kong on the 19th, Taipei on the 24th, Kuala Lumpur on the 26th and UOB Live in Bangkok on the 28th. Australia took four dates in September: Perth on the 1st, Sydney's Enmore Theatre on the 3rd, the Forum in Melbourne on the 5th and Fortitude Music Hall in Brisbane on the 6th.

The European leg opens at the Trianon in Paris on 25 November and runs through Brussels, Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt, Zurich, Milan, Prague, Vienna, Munich, Cologne and Utrecht to 10 December. Britain gets London's Roundhouse on 12 December at £39.50, Glasgow's Barrowland Ballroom on 14 December and Manchester's Albert Hall on 15 December, with a second London night added at the 2,000-capacity O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire on 16 December after the first sold out. Bertie Newman opens the London shows.

The last date was not in the original plan. The band added 3Arena in Dublin for 18 December 2026, on sale from 3 July at 9am, explaining that "after the overwhelming response in Dublin and Cork, it just didn't feel right to walk away without doing one last show in Ireland" — the venue they called a special place, and the one where the whole thing stops.

How it is playing

The Sydney night drew four stars and a notably unsentimental read. The reviewer found Garrigan's voice in fine form and the playing strong enough that stopping looked like a waste, writing that the band seemed to be quitting while still at their peak — while also noting a stage dynamic closer to four soloists than a unit, combining in a slightly stilted fashion. A couple got engaged in the front of the pit during Garrigan's solo reading of "The One"; he acknowledged them and carried on.

Garrigan's own line from that stage is the most honest framing of the year: "For some people, this will be their first and last time seeing us." By the time the album landed in October most of the UK dates had already gone, and the extra London and Dublin shows were a response to demand rather than a victory lap. What remains is seventeen European and British nights and one arena in Dublin.