New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Here we have it, finally, the Welsh band's new studio album. Quite a continuation to what it has been a tribute to alternative-indie rock, and with subtle changes to a group that has matured and faced almost the same themes from a different point of view with every year that passes by.
IF IT AIN'T BROKEN DON'T FIX IT?
It's fair to say that THE BALANCE has brought a certain evolution to the group, that has to thank Jacknife Lee, who's worked with U2, R.E.M and in the soon to be released Two Door Cinema Club's album False alarm.
The band starts off with a continuation to The Ride, Longshot, a song that should come out every time you google for British Indie Rock song, feels like a hug from an old friend you haven't seen in a while
With a more predominant presence of drum and bass, we are introduced to the classic toxic relationship in which you're so into that person that you put aside your plans, and even are happy to do so, in order to be with them. In concert, you can see Van kind of mimicking the girl he describes in the song on stage.
The most direct thank you is sent to the fans by the band in 2all, showing his gratitude to everyone that has supported them since the beginning, like a cliché press conference of an NFL athlete in the end of a thrilling match. See, not all of the songs are about break-ups!
NEW THEMES?
It is almost an inevitability to mention that McCann's not talking about a girl in every song, as had happened before. In this occasion we do see a bit of a deeper or even more mature version of Van, songs like Conversation or Intermission or Mission, even Longshot take us in a different trip through Van McCann's mind.
Conversation gets him in a more familiar ambiance, and we especially related to it, in the track we have Van talking to his dad and asking for advice, he's said to Apple Music: "I'm speaking to me dad here: 'I love to find myself/Looking straight up to you for the answers.' We will still sit back and talk about music for hours"
Knowing that the first album was released being 19, we have a good look of what happened with a very particular, accurate and recognizable sound.
CRITICS
Besides being a band with a very loyal fan-base, they haven't had a positive approach at least from Metacritic. In the page where fans are the reviewers, there are a couple comments accusing Catfish of refusing to innovate. Being The Balcony, their debut album, the best rated, and only getting a 60 out of 100, The Balance barely reaches 53 out of 100.
Today we hear and read everywhere about them and most of the time the critics to the Welsh band is their lack of creativity, they haven´t really spiced it up maybe because they don't want to get away from what they normally do, but is not bad to try something new, maybe Arctic Monkeys didn´t make it big time with Tranquility Base, Hotel and Casino, but they tried
Although we've got to admit that what they do, they do it right, strong riffs, resonant vocals that elevate the lyrics that McCann is so passionate about, and just have something special that give their songs the feeling that they're perfect to sing along. It feels like every song is just banger ready to be played either in a big arena, or just the dive bar down the street, or in the pub you'd go after office to meet with your mates.
After this triad of albums, maybe it's time for a bit of change for Catfish and The Bottlemen. Nonetheless, 'The Balance' is now going on tour through England, Canada and the United States.
