The Cat Empire Take Out #1 On Aussie Indie Albums Chart

Hot on the heels of beating out Kendrick Lamar for the top position on this week's ARIA charts, Melbourne ensemble The Cat Empire have claimed the #1 spot on the Carlton Dry Independent Music Charts with their new album Rising With The Sun.

They weren't without competition in achieving the result, however, with local rapper Urthboy landing just on their heels with The Past Beats Inside Me Like A Second Heartbeat taking out #2 on debut. In fact, it's an unusually busy week for new faces on the indie rankings for a change, with first-time appearances also coming from Elizabeth Rose (Intra, #5), Hein Cooper (The Art Of Escape, #8), Cub Sport (This Is Our Vice, #9), Methyl Ethel (Oh Inhuman Spectacle, #10), Ben Abraham (Sirens, #13) and Hayden Calnin (Cut Love, Pt. 1, #20). Stalwart Aussie troubadour C.W. Stoneking is also a somewhat fresh presence, re-entering the ladder at #18 with Jungle Blues.

The ream of new entries has had quite the shake-up effect on incumbents, with former gold medallist This Is Acting, by Sia, dropping to #3 to accommodate the newbies (and last week's #2, 1000 Forms Of Fear, follows suit to #6), while, inversely, Courtney Barnett rides up a rung to #4 with her resilient long-player Sometimes I Sit & Think, & Sometimes I Just Sit. Meanwhile, The Jezabels' Synthia is in at #7 (down from #3), but the remainder of the previous top 10 all fall outside the top half this week; Russell Morris' Red Dirt, Red Heart is at #11 (down from #6), Hermitude's Dark Night, Sweet Light is on his heels at #12 (down from #7), Colin Buchanan's Boss Of The Cross now sits at #14 (down from #4), Seth Sentry's Strange New Past backs it up at #15 (down from #8) and Sia's Best Of… is just inside at #19 (down from #9), while Bec & Sebastian's self-titled EP has vanished from the rankings after hitting #10 on debut last week.

It's a far quieter week in the Singles stakes, where The Temper Trap nab the sole debut of the week with Thick As Thieves, coming in just beyond the halfway mark at #11. There's minimal movement down the pointy end; respective top three Never Be Like You (Flume, ft. Kai), Cheap Thrills (Sia) and Hoops (The Rubens) stay unmoved, while chops and changes occupy the remainder — though top-two album placer Urthboy also enjoys a new(ish) appearance on this list, with Long Loud Hours, featuring Bertie Blackman, back in the race at #14.