Album Review: The Cat Empire - Stolen Diamonds

Melbourne party music darlings The Cat Empire have been quiet for three years - a silence beautifully broken with Stolen Diamonds. Like their albums of old, this collection demonstrates how fine musicians can combine and tag team to create tunes more than the sum of their parts, switching up between leads Felix Riebl and Harry Angus, while enjoying the best that the rest of the Empire’s musicians can provide.

Highlights here include the ups and downs of Anybody, the lovely, punny goodness of Kila (you have to listen to get it!), the sultry addition of guest vocalist Eloise Mignon on the French language track La Sirene and surprise Spanish cameo by Calexico touring guitarist Jairo Zavala (aka Depedro) on Sola. The slow build of Who’s That? also doesn’t disappoint, a cool sidestep from the type of sound you might expect from the band: here the sound of such hot musicians just cruising along rather than fanging it.

If you’re hungry for some old school horns-led salsa-styled cats though, there’s plenty for you with Saturday Night, an all-in that’s impossible not to at least tap along to, and the charming Oscar Wilde – a track that’s highly danceable and catchy as.