BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS
Origin: Sydney, Australia
Genre: Electronic synthpop, electronic rock new wave
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BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE
Empire of the Sun (band)
Empire of the Sun is an Australian electronic music duo from Sydney, formed in 2007. The band is a collaboration between Luke Steele of alternative rock act The Sleepy Jackson, and Nick Littlemore of electronic dance outfit Pnau. Their 2008 debut album Walking on a Dream brought the duo international success and has been certified double platinum in Australia and gold in the United Kingdom (UK). The album provided a number of internationally charting singles including “Walking on a Dream” which peaked at number ten on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart and reached number sixty four on the UK Singles Chart, and “We Are the People”, which peaked at number fourteen on the UK Singles Chart.
The duo’s second album Ice on the Dune was released in June 2013 preceded by lead single “Alive” on 16 April. The band are signed to EMI/Virgin. A live-band, fronted by Steele, has performed internationally and is known for its flamboyant appearance and elaborate stage-sets. The duo have won a number of Australian music awards.
Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore met in 2000 after being introduced by Steele’s A&R executive, Simon Moor, in a bar in Sydney. Both were at the time signed to EMI and had already been working on different projects. Over the years that followed, the two collaborated on a number of occasions. Littlemore helped write the song “Tell the Girls That I’m Not Hangin’ Out”, which appeared on The Sleepy Jackson’s 2003 debut album, Lovers, and Steele had some artistic input in Littlemore’s 2006 art-rock project Teenager.
The duo put out the title-track “Walking on a Dream” in anticipation of the album’s release. It appeared in digital format on 30 August 2008, and received airtime on Australian radio and reached number ten on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart. A second single, titled “We Are the People”, was released on the 30 September and peaked at number twenty-four in Australia. The album Walking on a Dream appeared on 3 October 2008 and debuted at number eight on the ARIA Albums Charts, peaking at number six.
Littlemore decided to opt out of performing with the band live, citing ‘I’ve always felt that once you make a record it’s not yours anymore’. Steele gave the impression that his partner left the band in September 2009, however, Littlemore resurfaced in the following month, citing his production work and a project with Cirque du Soleil as the reason for the lack of communication. He divided his time between the UK and Montreal while working on other creative commitments. Steele continued to perform live with the band at a number of Australian outdoor events. Towards the end of 2009 the band received a number of ARIA Awards for Walking on a Dream, including Best Album of the Year.
The band performed as a co-headliner at the touring Future Music Festival around Australia in February/March 2010. The band made their international debut at the Vivo Latino Festival in Mexico City in April of that same year. They moved to Europe for the summer festival season where they performed at among others Glastonbury and Rock Werchter. The band made their American debut at the Lollapalooza festival. In October 2010, “We Are the People” was used as the soundtrack for a Vodafone TV commercial in Germany and subsequently topped the German Singles Chart. In November 2010, Littlemore indicated that he had “talked to Luke (Steele) the other day; we’re doing a new record. We’ve already written a couple of tunes. You know when it’s right I guess”. In July 2011, Littlemore announced that the band had gone into the studio at the end of June to begin working on a second Empire of the Sun album while he confirmed would “come on board this time, actually come together and tour”. As recording continued, Littlemore continued to have Pnau related commitments, releasing the album Soft Universe in 2011 and the Elton John remix album Good Morning to the Night in 2012.
In December 2014, Empire of the Sun released two songs, “Tonight” and “Wandering Star”, which were written for the Farrelly brothers film, Dumb and Dumber To.
On 21 March 2015, the band performed at the 2015 Cumbre Tajín in Veracruz, Mexico.
On 30 December 2015, Empire of the Sun announced the release of a new album in 2016 on their Facebook page.
In January 2016, the band’s 2008 album title track “Walking on a Dream” was featured in a national commercial titled “The Dreamer” in the United States for the Japanese automaker Honda to promote the 2016 Honda Civic. The song finally led to U.S. chart breakthrough for the band, peaking at Number 3 on Billboard’s Alternative music charts, and topping the dance music charts.
Discography
Studio albums
Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
AUS
[27] AUT
[63] BEL
(FL)
[64] FRA
[65] GER
[44] IRE
[66] NL
[67] NZ
[68] SWI
[69] UK
[7] US
[70]
Walking on a Dream
Released: 3 October 2008
Label: Capitol
Formats: CD, digital download
6 22 27 60 31 17 70 37 15 19 97
ARIA: 2× Platinum
BPI: Gold[6]
BVMI: Gold[72]
IRMA: Gold[73]
Ice on the Dune
Released: 14 June 2013
Label: Capitol
Formats: CD, digital download
3 37 40 26 34 26 53 16 7 24 20
Singles[edit]