Catfish and the Bottlemen Bring Together their Sound with the Release of The Balance

By Carissa Mathena

There are some albums that become more. They aren’t just simply music anymore. They aren’t just noise to fill the background. They are art, in all forms of the word. The Balance by Catfish and the Bottlemen is one of those albums for me.

As an avid listener of their music, this album had some doubts behind it. Their first album, The Balcony, was held so close to many hearts in the years after its release. Their second album, The Ride, left many people wanting more. Finally, The Balance (ironically named), is an exact balance of the two genres. With the force and shred of the first album, but the lyrically strong verses of the second album, it became something unseen from Catfish and the Bottlemen.

That does not take away from the beautiful lyrics of The Balcony or Bondy’s, the lead guitarist, solos in the second album. It is just saying that finally we have an album that is focused on both. Lyrics like these “'Cause you tell me to get through tomorrow / 'Cause you know how it feels” in “Conversation”, a single off the album, and these lyrics from “2all”,  “I give my love to all / All the ones that stuck around / The ones I counted on / When I needed to get out” speak to things that people often think or feel. It is a manifestation of emotions that some people truly cannot communicate. It is a lyrical version of something you better thought unsaid.

That why I love this album. I sing the songs with conviction because I have felt or feel the things that are being sung. I love the album because it is cohesive musically. The energy in the guitar is there, you can feel the pounding of the drums, and the thrum of the bassline. It is their most musically explorative album and personally, I believe it to be their most meaningful. I think if you are looking for something you still quite haven’t found yet in music, this is the album for you.