Empire of Sun is the new offering from Australian indie pop heroes Luke Steele (The Sleepy Jackson) and Nick Littlemore (Pnau). Their debut album, Walking on a Dream is an appropriately titled piece of art-pop that lands somewhere between ambient/trance and electro-pop. The duo is similarly focused and their rich blend of the organic with the inorganic reminds me a lot of Steely Dan in spirit.
“Delta Bay” kicks off the album with a kind of psychedelic disco vibe that at first is, honestly, kind of annoying but over time will grow on you, faring much better on repeated listens. In fact this song is plagued by the same things that plague a lot of the songs, there is simply a lot going on and it can’t be absorbed in a simple, hurried listen. It must be digested, automatically making it a release for the patient listener. The blossoming sound of “Country” is a definite highlight though, sounding like an optimistic blend of Bjork, Royksopp, and Zooropa era U2. “Tiger By My Side” stands out for its Lifesavers Underground style, almost organic, appeal- a striking difference from the majority of the album. “Tiger by My Side” gains even more strength from its coupling with the eighties style pop ballad, “Without You” that follows it. Both are excellent in their own right but are quickly elevated by their placement o the album.
Overall this is a solid album. It’s far from groundbreaking or earth-shaking. It doesn’t even make you want to get out and shake your ass BUT it does have some bright moments on it that make you contemplate what this duo might be capable of given time and direction. The latter half of Walking on a Dream fares much better than the initial half but I honestly am more interested in seeing where Steele and Littlemore go from here.
Reviewed by Mark Fisher
