It doesn’t take a degree in semiotics to work out what’s going on with the cover art to Empire Of The Sun’s debut Walking On A Dream. Otherworldly and ethereal? Check. It’s there in the space age backdrop and the references to Star Wars. Theatrical? But of course, just look at those outfits and the make-up. Pretentious? Naturelement. One of them is gazing into a crystal ball, for godsakes. Spectacular? Well, it has its moments.
- (Redirected from Walking On A Dream (album)) Walking on a Dream is the debut studio album by Australian electronic music duo Empire of the Sun, released on 3 October 2008 by Capitol Records. The album was produced by band members Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore, along with Peter Mayes and Donnie Sloan.
- Lyrics to Walking on a Dream by Empire of the Sun from the Walking on a Dream album - including song video, artist biography, translations and more! Empire of the Sun released their debut album,. Title track became a hit single.
Empire Of The Sun Walking On A Dream Album Zip Download Torrent Dow. Australian synth-pop duo, Empire of the Sun first formed in 2007 as a. Song off the band's 2008 debut album, Walking on a Dream. Check out Walking On A Dream by Empire Of The Sun on Amazon Music.
Empire Of The Sun, already a Top 10 success in their native Australia, are made up of Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore. The former may ring a few bells seeing as he’s the founding member of psych-rockers The Sleepy Jackson, a band whose notoriety stems more from Steele’s habit of sacking band members then it does the music. In fact, their last album – which we will refer to simply as Personality for the sake of space – was so wilfully obscure that many thought Steele had finally gone completely bonkers. Empire Of The Sun it seems is his way of indulging that more theatrical side. And in Littlemore (from little-known dance act Pnau) he seems to have (finally) found the perfect counterpoint.
Despite the eccentric artwork and elaborate outfits, Walking On A Dream offers little in the way of musical experimentation. The main touchstone is a kind of blissed-out, 1970s vibe, all sunny acoustic strums and lazy vocals in a high register. Most of it sounds like a strange amalgam of Fleetwood Mac and MGMT, as if the latter had been transposed from the slightly grubby streets of Brooklyn to the beaches of Australia. For the most part, it works a treat, the title track and We Are The People particular highlights.
Utilizing a limited palette of acoustic guitar, soft padded drums and 2009’s instrument du annee, the synth, the band manage to create breezy, melodic songs that ask for little in the way of concentration but offer ample rewards over time. Half Mast, in particular, is brilliant summer pop, a bouncy keyboard riff and a wonderful falsetto chorus could see it become this year’s festival soundtrack.
Unfortunately, the album suffers badly in its second half, the incessant hooks and melodies drying up in favour of unnecessary noodling. Delta Bay is an odd amalgam of glam rock and the Chipmunks whilst The World sounds like something you’d hear in a shop selling spiritual trinkets and tarot cards. Things are rescued somewhat by the genuinely bonkers Swordfish Hotkiss Night, which sees Steele try his hand at rapping.
Tipped by many in those ‘Big in 2009’ polls, Empire Of The Sun are an interesting prospect, and one that feels achingly ‘now’, despite the retrogressive nature of the music. With Luke Steele’s ear for melody still intact and with a foil to keep his eccentricities pretty much in check, there’s a good chance they’ll be one of this year’s sleeper hits. It’s obvious that they’ve spent a while cultivating a specific look, but they seem to have only spent half of that time on the album. Still, for the first four songs it’s difficult not to be right there with them, floating around in their spaceship, blasting out Fleetwood Mac.
'A good song can take you to a place that I don’t think anything else on Planet Earth can.'
Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore deliver on that belief within the first 30 seconds of their debut album as Empire of the Sun.
There's a gently striding beat, elegant guitar line and Steele’s uniquely authoritative voice feels transportive.
He's like a captain calling for last passengers as he sings, 'Standing on the shore, waiting for the ship to call, there’s something in the way I move that keeps them on their own'.
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You get the sense of having being beamed to the edge of a future landscape, the sky and the scenery pulsates with excitement and expectation.
The album's title track 'Walking on a Dream' takes us to our next location, a warmer place filled with peace, joy and acceptance in this surreal world.
'Half Mast' and 'We Are The People' hold onto love and continue our adventures sailing on an updraft, and 'Delta Bay's' glam stomping energy feels like a night out spinning wildly and gleefully out of control.
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From the outset there was purpose and intent in the design of the progression of the story and adventures throughout Walking on a Dream.
The album arrived in 2008, but really Littlemore and Steele had been plugging away at their collaboration for many years prior.
They first met in 2000 and knew straight away they had something special together, but were also distracted and focused on the releases of their other groups.
Littlemore’s Pnau had just released Sambanova and was working on the follow-up and Steele’s band The Sleepy Jackson was on a roll releasing successive EPs building their songwriting and sound as a band, on the way to making their classic, Lovers album.
Classic Album: The Sleepy Jackson - Lovers
Empire Of The Sun Walking On A Dream Album Rare
They also couldn’t quite work out how to harness what they had together as Empire of the Sun. But from the opulence of the band name alone, you get the sense that there would be something of a grand scale.
The pair admitted they had some growing to do as individuals before they could lock in on each other as co-creators on Empire of the Sun.
'I think our first years, we sort of sorted through the whole …I guess we were both kinda young, it was not so much jealousy, but I think we were both fighting through those things you deal with as new artists,' Steele explained to Richard Kingsmill in 2008.
'We were both headstrong young people and passionate and that can get confused at times,' Littlemore added.
'I think what’s been great is that we’ve gone through crap in the industry and we’ve come through that and realised what we had done initially was make great music and we needed to pick that back up and re-ignite that flame.'
It helped that they had a unified mindset in their approach as Littlemore explained.
'Surrender and positivity are the two words we carried with us through the record …as soon as we would come in and try and make something, everything we would accept, and you just keep accepting things until you build a monolith.'
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The results are wondrous and indicative of a very special connection between the two musicians.
'I think chemistry is very rare especially in a songwriting,' Steele told triple j. 'There’s a lot of musicians but not a lot of us find the chemistry. Nick had something which I knew nothing about which is great production and also lyric writing, Nick's a great poet.'
Littlemore had plenty of praise for his partner.
Empire Of The Sun Walking On A Dream Album
'I mean Luke’s a genius, I think that’s quite well known, melodically and the just the way he operates, we’re quite similar, its very much just shoot from the hip…with Luke, he just hears melody unlike anyone else so if you had that opportunity to work with someone of his calibre, it’s hard to not do something great.'
When asked what they each get from this project that they hadn’t got with their respective bands, the answer was conclusive.
'The greatest record of our lives,' Littlemore said.
'It’s easily the strongest thing I’ve ever been a part of.
'It can stand up with the most minimal of elements. It doesn’t need stacks and stacks of production, you hear it on the radio and it’s just a single vocal of Luke’s because he doesn’t need to double track and harmonise. Yes, he can do that incredibly well, but his voice singly just coming out straight as God intended it is incredible.
'I don’t know if we’ll do a record as good as this cause it just feels so magical.'