Our Flame

Gavin Bowers' debut album imminent

Our Flame, the first single from 'cheap therapy' out 6th March 2026

There's always good music streaming out of Catch-21 Records.  Producer Gavin Bowers has been investing in supporting some of the best new acts working in Norwich and East Anglia for the best part of six years now. Operating out of his studios along Magdalen Street, rock, psyche-rock, country, folk and blues musicians have been nursed through their first singles and album recordings with sensitivity, patience and genuine concern to capture the authenticity of their music.

I am not going to name these acts because this post is about the musicianship of Bowers and Bowers alone.

I first became aware of Gavin's guitar work when he was playing locally with WAXX! Seeing them play at the Wild Fields Festival post-lockdown was an eye-opener.  There was an accomplished authority to the band's performance. The sound was full, the blend of rocking guitars, bass and drums with lyrics and harmonies was pleasing to the ear.  It was a sound that was as good live as one could hear on their only album release, WAXX!

From there, Bowers pulled together another band, who featured at Euston Hall's Red Rooster Festival, UFO Rodeo, (a band put together around an unreleased concept album). Currently leading a rock trio, Palm, (not to confused with a USA 'math rock' band that broke up in 2023), Gavin Bowers has a few things he wants to get off his chest and hence this Catch-21 single release, with a solo LP to follow.

The single Our Flame comes out on Friday 6th March 2026 and it is well worth a listen. It has a great guitar intro, with a sound as bright and flowing as The Isley Brothers' pop classic, That Lady. The single has intelligent lyrics, and like a good single should, gets in your head.  There is also a very clever bit of multi-track sax sampling to magic up a sax solo that leada the number to its conclusion.

My only criticism of Our Flame is the brevity of the song, but it is 3'37" already. Having heard another track from the soon to be pressed album, Gavin Bowers certainly knows how to develop a tune, so it is a little frustrating to hear Our Flame blow out so soon.

The song, composed and recorded in all its parts at chez Bowers, considers the foolhardiness of trying to sculpt oneself into someone you are not.  Although re-invention is sometimes worth a crack, its a tricky play when the reshaping is done to meet the romantic expectations of somebody else's desires.  At some point the veneer will fragment and the true self will be exposed.  Being in love with the idea of someone, rather than the reality in front of you because you believe you are in love, is a fool's mission.

Bowers uses the imagery of editing a film in the cutting room to address the hopeful process of clipping out the bits of oneself that don't appeal to your beloved, in a scroll seeking "a picture that you'll adore."  In effect, searching for something, the missing piece of the relationship puzzle, through personal erasure, in order to be loved.  Acceptance on such terms is unsustainable, the relationship doomed to eternal struggles. Where two people are unhappy with who they are becoming and the required personal adjustments are unwelcome compromises, the foundation for mutual growth and developing a loving relationship is undermined.  Like all good songs, Bowers lyrics and imagery communicate this truth simply.

The chorus is a plea for calm, taking time to let true love bubble up. It's not a bitter song at all, "Take your time, if you need it. I'll be fine."

I have lost count of how many times I have heard the song now and I'm still enjoying it very much.  As with all Gavin Bower's music, there is a lot more to it than you might first think. 

There's a moody video to go with it too.  How that fits with how you hear the song, will be down to you.  It's a nice bit of film work though. 

The single is here on Spotify

You can Gavin Bowers and all of his projects on Instagram @catch21records

~

Spencer Ide

Somewhere between Norwich and Manchester

5th March 2026