The Cat Empire have announced their ninth studio album, ‘Where The Angels Fall’, will arrive on August 25 via Ditto. It’ll mark the band’s first album since undergoing a major personnel change last year.
‘Where The Angels Fall’ was first previewed with lead single ‘Thunder Rumbles’ last month, which debuted the band’s new performing line-up. In addition to its two founding members – frontman Felix Riebl and multi-instrumentalist Ollie McGill – the new incarnation of the band also includes bassist Grace Barbé, drummer Daniel Farrugia (who previously toured with them in 2018) and percussionist Neda Rahmani.
To coincide with the announcement, the band have shared the album’s second single, ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’, which begins with a riff by flamenco guitarist Richard Tedesco. It arrives alongside a music video which follows a pair of headphones as they traverse Europe and Australia, and move through many pairs of hands. Watch that below – you can pre-order the album here.
In September 2021, Riebl and McGill announced that the band (as it existed at the time) would be dissolved, making way “for a new incarnation of The Cat Empire to come to life”. They played their final show with that line-up at last year’s edition of Byron Bay Bluesfest.
‘Where The Angels Fall’ was written and recorded in the band’s hometown of Melbourne. It sees Riebl and McGill reunite – after some 20 years – with producer Andy Baldwin, who helmed the band’s 2003 self-titled debut.
“With the advent of the new band comes a new album of brand-new music,” McGill said in a statement about the new album. “Felix and I haven’t had as much fun in the studio since the recording of our debut album, which was also produced by Andy Baldwin. We are pinching ourselves at the level of joy and sophistication that we have managed to conjure.”