Sunday 8 September 2013

The Cat Empire - Steal The Light

This is the sixth studio album from Melbourne's-own Cat Empire, and the first as an independent release.  Almost ten years on from the debut which featured the massive hits Hello and Days Like These, the band have had a huge amount of success at home, in Europe and across the globe.
 
Steal The Light is a pretty enjoyable record, led by excellent opening track and lead single Brighter Than Gold, which makes me feel like I'm in a Guy Ritchie film.  However, at times there's a little too much mucking around, with tracks like Sleep Won't Sleep sometimes feeling like they're an excuse for band members to explore their favourite pre-recorded keyboard sound effects.
 
Overall the album feels a bit less pop and a bit more exploratory than their other work in recent times.  Many tracks including Wild Animals and Prophets In The Sky have had their live debut and received rave responses from fans, and although brilliant live bands like The Cat Empire can sometimes fail to translate to recording with the same energy as they have on stage, both tracks are still highlights here.