Catfish and The Bottlemen’s third album will be titled The Balance, set for release on Friday 26 April 2019. In a rush of confirmations following the successful release of new single, Longshot, earlier this month, it’s now known that the new album release will be closely followed by a run of live shows across UK and Europe this Spring.
New songs from the 11-track album will feature in a 12-show run that kicks off in Galway, the Republic of Ireland. The newly announced arena dates throughout the UK will offer disappointed fans, who missed out on their imminent and SOLD OUT arena dates this February, another chance to score tickets. The full list of freshly booked dates is as follows:
• Sun 28 Apr Galway, Leisureland
• Tue 30 Apr Dublin, The Olympia Theatre
• Thu 2 May Brighton, Brighton Centre
• Sat 4 May Coventry, Ericsson Indoor Arena
• Sun 5 May Cardiff, Motorpoint Arena
• Tue 7 May Sheffield, FlyDSA Arena
• Wed 8 May Manchester, Manchester Arena
• Mon 13 May Madrid, La Riviera
• Tue 14 May Barcelona, Razzmatazz
• Thu 16 May Milan, Alcatraz
• Sat 18 May Berlin, Huxleys Neue Welt
• Mon 20 May Amsterdam, Melkweg
The guarded four-piece remained tight-lipped during the recording sessions for their new album, but now offer further insights into the new material set to soundtrack their journey onto yet bigger stages.
In the breaks between electrifying outdoor and festival shows in 2018, Van McCann (vocals, guitars), Johnny Bond (guitars), Robert ‘Bob’ Hall (drums) and Benji Blakeway (bass) retreated with Irish producer, Jacknife Lee, to carefully craft The Balance over a 12-month period. Recorded in seclusion at two locations: Grouse Lodge, in Moate, Republic of Ireland, and The Chapel in the countryside of East Lincolnshire, the band lived and breathed the album while residing together in rural isolation. The album was mixed by Craig Silvey.
“We loved living in the same place,” says McCann. “We were staying there the whole time, so we were waking up around each other and working until we needed to go to bed. Jacknife was always up. He was the first up and the last awake. It’s good when you’re completely engulfed in recording in a place like that, living together, because every day and all day it was about the songs. We had fun too; they were the funniest album sessions we’ve done.”
In addition to Longshot and newly established live favourite, Fluctuate, the full track listing for The Balance is confirmed as follows:
1. Longshot
2. Fluctuate
3. 2all
4. Conversation
5. Sidetrack
6. Encore
7. Basically
8. Intermission
9. Mission
10. Coincide
11. Overlap
Further to the album name and familiar, one-word song titling, the creative bridge between 2014’s platinum-certified debut, The Balcony and it’s gold follow up, The Ride, has been reinforced by Catfish returning to San Francisco-based, graphic artist, Tim Lahan to provide cover artwork for a third time. The playful, monochromatic line drawing of a drinking toucan provides observers with no shortage of mystery to unravel as to the artwork’s inspirations and significance.
Practically of no fixed abode due to constant touring, the band remains locked onto the intense shared live experience as theirs and their fans’ natural domain. Quick to reaffirm this profound connection with their audience this year, Catfish and The Bottlemen’s first batch of SOLD OUT 2019 UK and Ireland Tour dates go ahead as follows:
• Tue 19 Feb 2019 Nottingham, Motorpoint Arena – SOLD OUT
• Wed 20 Feb 2019 Plymouth, Pavilions – SOLD OUT
• Fri 22 Feb 2019 London, The SSE Arena, Wembley – SOLD OUT
• Sat 23 Feb 2019 Hull, Bonus Arena – SOLD OUT
• Tue 26 Feb 2019 Dublin, The Olympia Theatre – SOLD OUT
• Wed 27 Feb 2019 Belfast, Ulster Hall – SOLD OUT
At the start of the year Catfish and The Bottlemen announced their first return to the USA since their nationwide stadium jaunt with Green Day finished in the autumn of 2017, with a new, 15-date US tour opening in Indianapolis in mid-March.
