Catfish and the Bottlemen make an emphatic return with their third album, The Balance. 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 (U2, The Killers) 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. It was mixed by Craig Silvey (Florence + the Machine, Arcade Fire).

“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.”

Set to soundtrack their journey onto yet bigger stages, the eleven-track album features the new single “Longshot,” as well as the live fan-favorite “Fluctuate.”