The Cat Empire have really entered their new era with the announcement of an upcoming album.
The iconic Melbourne band started their new chapter earlier this year with new single “Thunder Rumbles”, OG members Felix Riebl and Ollie McGill revelling in their new ensemble of expert musicians, including Seychelles singer Grace Barbe, Cuban-born trumpeter Lazaro Numa, and the band’s close friend Neda Rahmani.
And now they’ve revealed that their new album, Where the Angels Fall, will be released on August 25th.
To celebrate the announcement, The Cat Empire have shared their second single of the year, “Rock ‘n’ Roll”, which opens with a riff by flamenco guitarist Richard Tedesco and only gets more energetic from there.
“The song “Rock ‘n’ Roll” started with a while we were working on ideas in my Brunswick studio,” Riebl reveals. “The chorus chant came from an old voice memo I had tucked away labelled ‘epic Irish’ and the two ideas married soon after that.
“Once I’d found the words, chords, and melody the production team Ollie McGill, Andy Baldwin, Ross Irwin, and myself started imagining a kind of cinematic road scene… Spanish claps (palmas), strings, borderland Mexican trumpets, brooding drums and bass, piano, timpani, clanging thunder amps, and the song came to life.
“It was a very natural recording process, clear lines, no second guessing. We’ve played it at every show so far, and it has that great quality of singing itself. The audience hear the chorus for the first time, and it feels like they’ve known it forever.”
You can watch the music video for the track below, which features footage the band shot while travelling the world on their recent headline tour.
“The film clip features a very battered pair of headphones that I carried all over Europe and Australia and shot hundreds of short scenes with. It’s a little window into our life making music and travelling around the globe,” Irwin adds.
The Cat Empire’s “Rock ‘n’ Roll” is out now. Where the Angels Fall is out August 25th via Ditto (pre-save/pre-order here).
