The Cat Empire have set themselves amongst the pigeons, announcing a huge national tour on the back of their brand new single Bulls.
The Melbourne ska sextet have delivered the third lick off their forthcoming LP, Rising With The Sun, ahead of the disc’s official release on March 4th.
Bulls is a fusion cocktail of reggae, jazz, pop, funk, finishing with a fully-fledged thigh-slappin’ hoedown.
“The song Bulls came directly from a dream” explains frontman Felix Riebl. “I woke up at the very edge of sleep. Almost, just before I woke up, there was a guy in there showing me a rhythm. It’s very distinct. That song came straight from there.
“I think we run the risk of sounding pretentious to say that songs come in dreams, but sometimes they really quite literally just appear that way,” he said. “That’s a real gift.”
Bulls follows the similarly animal-themed single, Wolves – which charted at #79 in the triple J Hottest 100, becoming the band’s 11th song in 11 years to make the countdown – as well as their earlier release, Qué Será Ahora.
To celebrate the official arrival of their seventh LP, The Cat Empire are taking the hoedown cross-country for a national tour this May.
“The show that we’re planning is a really ambitious one. We’ve got amazing production that we’ve stepped up,” Felix told triple j.
“And the album itself we really wrote for the festival setting … we’ve really hit our steps in that respect.”
As well as performing multiple dates across the ACT, SA, VIC, QLD, NSW, WA and SA (with even more dates to be announced shortly) the group will also be playing a few festival stops at WOMAdelaide and Bluesfest.
Check out their new song Bulls and full touring itinerary, below.
https://soundcloud.com/triple_j/felix-from-the-cat-empire-drops-new-music
Rising With The Sun Tour Dates
Tickets on sale from Friday, 5th February
Friday, 20th May
The Enmore, Sydney NSW (AA)
Tickets: The Cat Empire
Saturday, 21st May
The Enmore, Sydney NSW (AA)
Tickets: The Cat Empire
Sunday, 22nd May
Canberra Theatre, Canberra ACT (AA)
Tickets: The Cat Empire
Thursday, 26th May
The Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide SA (AA)
Tickets: The Cat Empire
Friday, 27th May
The Forum, Melbourne VIC
Tickets: The Cat Empire
Saturday, 28th May
The Forum, Melbourne VIC
Tickets: The Cat Empire
Friday, 3rd June
Tank Arts Centre, Cairns QLD
Tickets: The Cat Empire
Saturday, 4th June
Magnums, Airlie Beach QLD
Tickets: The Cat Empire
Sunday, 5th June
Kirwan Tavern, Townsville QLD
Tickets: The Cat Empire
Other Dates
Friday, 4th March
Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle WA
Tickets: Oztix
Saturday, 5th March
3 Oceans Winery, Margaret River WA
Tickets: Oztix
Sunday, 6th March
Castelli Estate, Denmark WA
Tickets: Oztix
Friday, 11th March
WOMADELAIDE SA (AA)
Tickets: WOMADelaide
Sunday, 27th March
Bluesfest 2016, Byron Bay NSW (AA)
Tickets: Bluesfest
