The Return

After nearly 5 years, Catfish & the Bottlemen are back. With new music. ‘Showtime’ sees a new look Catfish, two members down. Bob Hall and Johnny Bond left the band in 2021, and after a lot of radio silence from all parties. Many were surprised to see them appear on the Reading & Leeds Lineup for this year.

Fans were even more surprised to hear that the band would release new music. With the announcement being cryptically teased out with posters.  Counting down to ‘Showtime’

As for the song itself, it follows a similar trend to what we’d usually expect from the band however it does explore new ideas sonically. With new instrumentation. A more acoustic driven sound, and it also appears that the band have used synths to great effect.

Lyrically the band reference their previous escapades including headlining Leeds in 2021. It’s quite repetitive in terms of the rest of the lyrical content but melodically, it’s a different sound to what we’ve come to expect. I think it could divide fans. But I personally like it

By no means have they reinvented the wheel. This isn’t Radiohead making ‘Ok Computer’ but no one expected that. I think many are just happy that the band are back.

Alongside the release of new music, the band announced two more headline shows for the summer. In Cardiff and Edinburgh. Tickets for these shows are out on 27th of February.

So 2024, 10 years after ‘The Balcony’ and 5 years after ‘The Balance’ they reared their heads again. I guess we’re all coming along for ‘The Ride’ x