The Balcony

“The Balcony” is the debut studio album by Welsh indie rock band Catfish and the Bottlemen, released on 15 September 2014 in the UK and 15 January 2015 in the US under Island and Communion labels. Produced by Jim Abbiss, the album runs for 37 minutes and 38 seconds, featuring tracks like “Homesick”, “Kathleen”, and “Cocoon”. It received a Gold certification from the British Phonographic Industry on 20 March 2015.

The album cover, designed by New York artist Tim Lahan, depicts outlines of two figures, a motif sourced from his Flickr account. “The Balcony” was nominated for the Welsh Music Prize 2014-15 and by the release of their second album, “The Ride”, had sold 250,000 copies. In the US, it sold 37,000 copies by April 2016.

Several singles were released from the album, including “Homesick”, “Kathleen”, and “Cocoon”. The song “Cocoon” was featured in the EA Sports game FIFA 15.

Personnel on the album include Van McCann on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Billy Bibby on lead guitar, Benji Blakeway on bass guitar, and Bob Hall on drums. Jim Abbiss contributed additional programming and piano.

Chart performance saw “The Balcony” reach number 10 on the UK Albums Chart and number 121 on the US Billboard 200. It achieved 2x Platinum status in the UK, reflecting sales exceeding 600,000 units.