I first heard the Cat Empire, believe it or not, when they played “Sly” on Letterman or Conan O’Brien or something a while back. My initial reaction was “Hey, they sound alright,” so I went an obtained their debut self-titled album, and was immediately hooked. The sizzling, intense trumpet cadenza which graces the initial fifteen or so seconds of the record drew me closer, into a kind of groove which my heartbeat had no choice but to mimic. Each subsequent cut took an unsuspected but welcome turn, telling me a variety of stories; some I heard, others I felt. The life that the group breaths into their music is immensely and unclassifyably (that, surprisingly, isn’t a word) unique. Tasteful, defiant, and harmless lyrics dance to the rhythm of intricate latin bass lines, worldly percussion, and intense turntable rips. This is talent in the raw. Diverse, experimental, elegant.

You can’t put the Cat Empire under any one umbrella. Once you begin tagging them with a particular genre, they come out with something that completely defies it. They have so many backgrounds and influences that the only way you can describe them in a couple of words is simply “good music,” as the members of the group themselves put it. Their third album, “Cities: The Cat Empire Project,” is a prime example of the heterogeneity of their work; it’s based on the sounds they’ve picked up while touring around the world.

One notable thing about their songs is that they communicate with one another. They make references to their old songs in their new ones, almost to the point where they become sequels (Gordon Goodwin’s “Count Bubba” comes to mind), and not in the sense of the shitty marketing ploys we constantly see with movies and video games. It gives a sense that their music itself is a living thing. The gypsy lady Felix Riebl sings about in “The Night That Never End” makes an appearance in the subsequent record, Harry James Angus reiterates his taste for rum in “Party Started” as he told us in “the songs [he has] previously sung,” and the group’s “Two Shoes” continue dancing through “So Many Nights.”

The Cat Empire has no concrete roster. Though their publicity shots usually only include their six “core” members, countless other artists make them what they are, including the “Empire Horns,” a plethora of guest artists, and the “Empire Dancers.” Yes, they consider their dancers as a part of their band; music and dancing go hand-in-hand, as Felix Riebl describes. That doesn’t mean they bring choreographers into the recording studio (though I wouldn’t be surprised if they did!); it means they make extraordinarily kick-ass live shows.

This group is one of the few truly unique, revolutionary collaborations of musical talent in the world today. While everybody else is opening up their diaries and belting out mournful poetry, the Cat Empire is displaying and redefining the way music is heard and felt.

~Tyler