Stolen Diamonds

Stolen Diamonds is the eighth studio album by Melbourne band the Cat Empire. It was produced by Jan Skubiszewski and released on 15 February 2019 through Two Shoes Records.^[1] The album was released almost three years after their previous album, Rising with the Sun (2016) - the band's longest gap between albums at that time. It debuted at Number 4 on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart, making it the band's sixth top 10 debut, following Rising with the Sun. To promote the album, the band released a new single on the first of each month leading up to the release, starting with "Ready Now" on 1 July 2018.^[2] Next released was "Stolen Diamonds" in August, followed by "La Sirène" in September, "Kila" in October, "Sola" in November, "Barricades" in December, "Oscar Wilde" in January and "Echoes" in February.

Stolen Diamonds
Studio album by the Cat Empire
Released	15 February 2019 (2019-02-15)
Studio	Red Moon Studios
Length	53:53
Label	Two Shoes
Producer	Jan Skubiszewski
The Cat Empire chronology
Rising with the Sun (2016) Stolen Diamonds (2019) Where the Angels Fall (2023)
Singles from Stolen Diamonds
"Ready Now" Released: 1 July 2018 "Stolen Diamonds" Released: 1 August 2018 "La Sirène" Released: 1 September 2018 "Kila" Released: 1 October 2018 "Sola" Released: 1 November 2018 "Barricades" Released: 1 December 2018 "Oscar Wilde" Released: 31 December 2018 "Echoes" Released: 8 February 2019

It is the band's last album to feature the full original lineup, with Ryan Monro leaving in 2021 and Harry James Angus, Will Hull-Brown and Jamshid Khadiwhala all departing in 2022.

Artwork

The artwork for Stolen Diamonds is a photo taken by Jason Futrill (also known as Tassiegrammer), taken at the Bay of Fires in Tasmania. The photo is entitled Floating Girl, and the subject of the picture is Futrill's then-partner Susan Matthew. On the day of the shoot, the temperature was below 12 °C (53.6 °F). Futrill stated that "at the time of capturing this image, drones had not yet become mainstream, and the unique perspective of the aerial image, combined with the colours and focal point of Susan in a bikini, helped create an image that has people dreaming that they were there."^[3]

Reception

Melbourne magazine Beat rated the album 7 out of 10, stating: "The album barely takes a break from its upbeat tempo, and flows seamlessly between funk, reggae, and ska...". They went on to say that the album "...sees the Cat Empire take one step closer towards legend status."^[4]

Double J presented Stolen Diamonds as its feature album, and was also very positive in its review, saying: "The worst thing about Stolen Diamonds is that you’re gonna need to clear some space around you if you're planning on listening to it. Because this is very much a record that inspires movement."^[5]

While giving the album 3 out of 5 stars, The Sydney Morning Herald gave a more critical review, writing: "...the moves are there, the playing is very fine, but nothing lasts once you've stopped moving."^[6]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Kila"	Felix Riebl	3:48
2.	"Stolen Diamonds"	Harry Angus	4:23
3.	"Oscar Wilde"	Riebl Angus	3:46
4.	"Ready Now"	Riebl	3:15
5.	"Barricades"	Angus Jan Skubiszewski Oliver McGill	5:18
6.	"Anybody"	Riebl Angus	4:31
7.	"La Sirène" (featuring Eloise Mignon)	Riebl Eloise Mignon McGill	3:18
8.	"Echoes"	Angus	4:33
9.	"Who's That"	Riebl	3:18
10.	"Adelphia"	Angus	5:49
11.	"Saturday Night"	Riebl McGill Ross Irwin	4:41
12.	"Bow Down to Love"	Angus	3:50
13.	"Sola" (featuring Depredo)	Riebl Jairo Zavala	3:23
Total length:			53:53

Personnel

The Cat Empire core members Harry James Angus – vocals, trumpet Will Hull-Brown – drums, percussion Jamshid Khadiwhala – turntables, percussion Ollie McGill – piano, organ, backing vocals Ryan Monro – bass guitar Felix Riebl – lead vocals, percussion The Empire Horns (auxiliary members) Kieran Conrau – trombone, backing vocals Ross Irwin – trumpet, backing vocals Phil Noy – baritone saxophone

Additional musicians Eloise Mignon – vocals (track 7) Depedro – vocals (track 13) Recording details Produced by – Jan Skubiszewski Mixing – Jan Skubiszewski Engineering – Jan Skubiszewski Mastered by – Adam Ayan Studio – Red Moon Studios (engineering, mixing); Gateway Mastering (mastering)

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2019)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[7]	4

Year-end charts

Chart (2019)	Position
Australian Jazz and Blues Albums (ARIA)[8]	1

Chart (2020)	Position
Australian Jazz and Blues Albums (ARIA)[9]	30

Chart (2021)	Position
Australian Jazz and Blues Albums (ARIA)[10]	30