Cities (The Cat Empire album)

Cities
Studio album by The Cat Empire
Released	2006
Recorded	2005-2006 at Sing Song Studios, Richmond, Victoria
Genre	Jazz/Rock/Hip hop
Length	45:32
Label	EMI/Virgin
Producer	Felix Riebl & The Cat Empire
The Cat Empire chronology
Two Shoes (2005) Cities (2006) So Many Nights (2007)

Cities is an album by The Cat Empire released on the 1 April 2006. A strictly limited release, 10,000 individually-numbered copies have been made in digipak format.

On October 29, the album won an ARIA Music Award under the category: Awards for Fine Arts, Best World Music Album.

The album was recorded at Sing Sing Studios in Richmond, Melbourne, Australia.

As well as The Cat Empire and the Empire Horns (Ross Irwin, Kieran Conrau and Carlo Barbaro), this project features many guest artists, including:

• Alyssa Conrau (violin),
• Kirsty Conrau (cello),
• Novak Conrad (guitar),
• Julie O'Hara (vocals in 'Song for Elias', 'Motion', 'Song for the Day', 'Side to Side', 'Waltz' and 'Luck Song'),
• Nina Ferro (vocals, in 'Side to Side', 'Song for the Day' and 'Waltz'),
• Greg Sheehan (talking tamb in 'Waltz'),
• Bobby Singh (tablas in 'Cities' and 'Boogaloo'), and
• Kumar Shome (sitar in 'Cities') .

The album as a whole has a greater diversity in terms of style than seen on previous albums - Song for the Day, Luck Song, and Know Your Name have a prominent reggae feel, while Miss Soul, Side to Side, Boogaloo and Motion show classic R&B and Soul influences. There's even some polka thrown into the mix in the form of Waltz, and Anymore takes on a more traditional latin jazz style. There are also guitar parts in many tracks, an instrument which until now has been a rare occurrence in The Cat Empire's music.

Two songs (Siente and Song for the Day) are from early in the band's career, and haven't seen a mainstream studio release until now. (Siente was previously known as The Conspiracy, was sung by Harry Angus, and had different lyrics; however the backing chords, bridge, and horn/keyboard riffs are clearly recognizable.) Song for Elias has also been around long before Cities was released—only being played at live concerts (the most notable being the Bennett's Lane 17 May 2004 concert, from which the recording of On the Attack's Days Like These was taken. Side to Side can also be heard on a recording of Triple J's Live at the Wireless from 2005).

The album is no longer available from most retailers, but it can still be found at smaller stores such as Leading Edge music and also at the official Cat Empire website.

Track listing

1. "Cities" – 3:23
2. "Boogaloo" – 3:30
3. "Siente" – 2:43
4. "Motion" – 3:43
5. "Song for the Day" – 3:47
6. "Know your Name" – 3:21
7. "Song for Elias" – 4:32
8. "Jungle" – 2:12
9. "Down at the 303" – 2:40
10. "Side to Side" – 3:53
11. "Waltz" – 4:24
12. "Luck Song" – 3:30
13. "Anymore" – 3:52
14. "Miss Soul" - 4:35 (iTunes exclusive track)

When "Miss Soul" was first available for download, it was incorrectly titled 'Feline'.

Charts

Chart	Position
Australasian Album Chart	6
Australian ARIA Album Chart	11

Australian ARIA Album Chart
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11
Chart Position	11	17	22	26	45	50

Sources

• Cities - CD Reviews (The Age)
• musichead.com.au