New Music: Empires in Orbit and Fe Malefiz – Cat Eyes

You get far more than you see on the industrial hip-hop of Empires in Orbit’s Cat Eyes, right from the German spoken word intro.

Vocalist Fe Malefiz has a fierceness right from those opening lines, one that changes switches both from German to English and back, as well as mixing it up from rap to singing. It creates an impression that is as hard as the trap-inspired beats and as ominous and assertive as the industrial pop synths.

You are left wondering if Cat Eyes is a statement of independence or to be viewed as a threat, but then, society can view the two as interchangeable when it’s a woman that is staking her place in the world. But just as easily, you can accept the track as boundary-crossing, uncompromising pop that takes chances and makes them work brilliantly.

Says Empires in Orbit’s Gary Mann about the background to Cat Eyes, “I almost scrapped this song before giving it to Miri (Fe Malefiz) to write vocals to. I wanted to challenge myself to writing a horror trap song and thought I did an ok job, but it was so simple I didn’t think it would work. Miri said send it anyway and we’ll see what happens. Turns out, it’s our banger. Funny how that works.”

Continues Malefiz, “I wanted a song with a comic energy and had the character of Harley Quinn in mind. Psycho, mental ill but super sexy and cute. Maybe it’s more about myself than I should admit haha.”

Cat Eyes will appear on their Audiodrome LP, which is out on the 14th of August and is up for pre-order on Bandcamp. Check out the band’s Facebook and Instagram profiles for album updates