The Balance is packing classic Catfish tunes, echoing previous albums in their lyrical decisions and strong repeated chorus’. In all aspects, the band have continued the essence of their previous records; keeping up the tradition of black and white album covers, and all song titles being just one word. No one can blame Catfish for sticking to what they know – it has worked well so far, and they have once again created 11 indie anthems for fans to get stuck into. 

With previous lyrics telling tales of life on tour and rocky relationships, The Balance follows suit. ‘Longshot’ kicks the album off with a rip-roaring bang, being consistent with that of previous tracks ‘Cocoon’ and ‘Twice’. Emotional track ‘Mission’ tells fans of the relationship between leading man Van McCann and his father, which is essentially the only thing that really differs this album from the other two. 

The Bottlemen’s style can’t be described as complex, which could be down to the band working with the same producer ‘Tim Lahen’ on all three albums. All the tracks have the same structure and style as always, leaving some fans questioning whether they will ever see a change-up, or the band experiment with different styles and tones of music. 

Of course, this style has worked thus far with their previous albums topping charts and proving a massive success with a sold out tour. It is safe to say that the fans the band have accumulated already will be extremely satisfied with the record, but it will be hard for the band to change the minds of those who haven’t been fond so far. 

On the day of the album release, the band took to Twitter to announce four arena shows November, following a seven date arena tour ending in May. Tickets go on sale on Friday 3rd May, the full dates are listed below: 

04/11 – Birmingham Arena

5/11 – Newcastle Utilita Arena 

10/11 – Liverpool M&S Bank Arena 

11/11 – Leeds First Direct Arena A

The first wave of artists, for this year’s Citadel Festival, have been announced today (February 25), with Rag ‘N’ Bone Man, Friendly Fires and Bear’s Den, among the other leading acts that feature on the top of the bill. Meanwhile, the following acts are also on the bill and will be joining the already stellar line-up is Matt Corby, DMA’s, Honeyblood, Dream Wife, The Coronas, Fontaines DC and many more.

Landing to you today, a new #Citadel19 is upon us

Revealing our headliners @thebottlemen and so much more to discover

Tickets go on general sale Wednesday 27th February at 9am x pic.twitter.com/v6oAayZNhk

— Citadel Festival (@CitadelFestival) February 25, 2019

Joining Catfish and The Bottlemen, on the Main stage, at the festival will be Rag ’N’ Bone Man, Friendly Fires, DMA’s, Dream Wife, The Coronas, and Balcony. Meanwhile, the Communion stage will feature Bear’s Den, Matt Corby, Honeyblood, Matthew and the Atlas, The Teskey Brothers, Cleopatrick, Banfi, and MarthaGunn.

Concluding the first wave of acts, and playing the DIY stage is Tinariwen, Hyukoh, Fontaines DC, Talos, The Murder Capital, Squid, Bill Jefferson, and Cosmic Strip. Citadel will return for its fifth edition, this summer, having first launched back in 2015, in Victoria Park. Tickets will go on sale, on the 27th of February 2019, at 9am, and can be purchased here.

This will be its second year at its new west London home of Gunnersbury Park, which also hosts Lovebox. The festival isn’t all about the music as there will also be a gathering of some of London’s best known food traders, including Patty and Bun, Other Side Fried and Only Jerkin’.

Last year’s Citadel festival featured the likes of Leon Bridges, Chvrches, and, headliners in Aussie indie psych outfit, Tame Impala. Catfish will head to Gunnersbury Park for their first headline slot at the festival, this year. Their set will feature a selection of new material to fit amongst some of their biggest hits and live favourites, including Kathleen and 7.