Felix Riebl and the band reconnect with Jan Skubiszewski nearly two decades after the album that took them global, delivering a percussive new track while their orchestral tour continues.
The Cat Empire have released their new single Rocket, marking the first collaboration with producer Jan Skubiszewski since he worked on the 2007 album Steal the Light, the record that pushed the band onto the international stage.
The track reunites the group with a long-time friend and collaborator at a moment when Felix Riebl and Ollie McGill are steering the band through its latest chapter. Skubiszewski’s return comes as The Cat Empire continue their national encore orchestral run, which stretches into 2027.
Rocket carries the band’s familiar percussive drive while introducing a tropical, Latin, surfy and Brazilian street-parade flavour. The horn line sits somewhere between the known and the fresh. Riebl has described the recording sessions as a riot, with the studio filled with countdowns, dancing and a loose energy that the band expects will keep the song in their live set for years.
“It’s big and percussive in that classic Cat Empire way, but it’s got something new about it too,” Riebl said. “It was a riot to record. It lit up the studio, with everyone shouting the countdowns, dancing and letting loose, and it feels like a song that’s going to hold its place in the live set for a long time. We wanted something that would excite the fans who’ve been with us from the early days, something that captures the spirit of where we started.”
Lyrically the song collides images and contrasts in a chaotic yet celebratory rush designed to pull listeners into its momentum.
The accompanying video leans into the 90s and early 2000s indie performance clips the band grew up watching. Shot largely on a camcorder, it is deliberately loose and lo-fi. Art director Guilia McGauran has created a clean, blank-canvas studio setting that will gradually fill with paint and chaos as further new music appears. Riebl has already teased that this first clip remains relatively restrained compared with what follows.
Since the 2023 lineup change that saw Riebl and McGill carry the band forward, The Cat Empire have released Where The Angels Fall, which reached number five on the ARIA chart, and Bird in Paradise, which debuted at number two on the ARIA Australian Albums Chart. They have played more than 40 international dates, including Glastonbury, and sold more than 25,000 tickets across orchestral shows with Australian symphony orchestras.
In May 2026 the live album Live at Sydney Opera House with Sydney Symphony Orchestra arrived and has been nominated for Best World Music Album at the 2026 ARIA Awards. The band recently sold out seven shows across Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane on the current national encore tour and marked a twentieth performance in twenty years at Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom during FIFA World Cup events.
Rocket opens a new stretch of releases while the group remain on the road. Two decades of material now share stages with fresh material, keeping the shows close to the street-party spirit that has defined the band from the beginning.
The Cat Empire Live Shows 2026-2027
Friday, 9 October, 2026, Adelaide SA, Thebarton Theatre with Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
Saturday, 10 October, 2026, Adelaide SA, Thebarton Theatre with Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
Saturday, 24 October, 2026, Margaret River WA, Good Day Sunshine Festival
Friday, 4 December, 2026, Perth WA, Riverside Theatre with West Australian Symphony Orchestra
Saturday, 5 December, 2026, Perth WA, Riverside Theatre with West Australian Symphony Orchestra
Saturday, 16 January, 2027, Melbourne VIC, Sidney Myer Music Bowl with Orchestra Victoria
Saturday, 30 January, 2027, Launceston TAS, Festivale
Saturday, 20 February, 2027, Echuca VIC, Riverboats Festival
Saturday, 13 March – Friday, 19 March, 2027, Fiji, Music In Paradise
Friday, 28 May – Monday, 31 May, 2027, Starlight PA USA, Camp Cat Empire at Camp Starlight
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