This time next week Catfish and the Bottlemen's second album will be released. The 27th of May has been a date in my diary for a very long time. Just like with the debut, I have it pre-ordered and will possibly again shed a tear when it arrives.
Quiet recently I was asked if I want another album from the band. At first I was sort of in shock from the question. Of course I do, was my obvious answer. I was then asked 'would a second, third or fourth album ever top 'The Balcony'?' That's when I fully understood the questions.I have said it before, The Balcony is one of my all time favourite albums. In a (good) way it shocked people. The small Welsh band with the funny name from Llandudno produced this incredible debut album which competes very easily with some other musicians second and third albums. Nothing will be better than The Balcony for me. The Ride may be an incredible album but The Balcony is special, to me, beyond the music engraved and encased on every CD and vinyl.
There's not much I can say about 'The Ride', mainly because it isn't out yet, but so far from tracks like Soundcheck and Twice, I'm looking forward to it. It won't be The Balcony but it will resemble it somehow and I'm pretty excited for it. In a way I would love for it to be 'different'. A bit more experimental and not just an extension of The Balcony.
I've always written about how genuine this band are. There's the running joke that it isn't a Catfish and the Bottlemen concert if Van McCann doesn't say thank you 100 times accompanied with a long speech and some sort of mention of Ewan McGregor (viably or audibly). I just hope their genuineness and love for music isn't lost.
They have this passion for music which at very gig creates an atmosphere which is second to none. There are moments during their gigs where the crowd goes mental, from the start of Pacifier all the way through Cocoon to the very end of Homesick. There is a rawness and a shared excitement reverberated in the crowd being happy to completely loose themselves. However, when the crowds calm down, when Hourglass starts and all the camera lights and lighters come out, that rawness is still there. That excitement still exists, just softened and put on hold by McCann playing acoustically. A new album is great but to really know it and love it, you need to hear it live. (Yes I'm hoping for another UK tour at some point soon.)
The day 'The Balcony' was released I played every Catfish and the Bottlemen song I owned. There were only six songs. Six songs I adored. Six songs which made me put so much faith in this band. Six songs which won me over. This time next week, when waiting for 'The Ride', I won't have six songs to listen to. I will have an incredible debut album which went gold. An album which has won so many people over. The album which changed everything. The Balcony.