Luke Steele (frontman for The Sleepy Jackson) and Nick Littlemore (one half of dance duo Pnau) dig cinema, and their band’s debut album Walking On A Dream is actually the byproduct of the complete script they had written for to be a feature-length movie.

“We wrote the whole script, so then we just wrote songs to fit into places within the script,” Steele recalls. “It’s a journey of discovery, like a road movie, but one you’re not seeing on the road” (press release).

If it’s a road movie, then it’s a road movie in space judging by either the album cover or after the first listen through of the 44-minute electro-pop epic.

Empire Of The Sun is MGMT on steroids or at least something that is something that has to be illegal in at least eight countries. Where MGMT is mellow, Empire Of The Sun is outlandish. Where MGMT is Earthly, Empire Of The Sun is extraterrestrial.

The opening “Standing On The Shore” is misleading in that its relative bareness, although striking, leaves you unprepared for the rest. The title track “Walking On A Dream” creeps up on you with its retro 1980s feel before hooking you with a supremely addicting pop melody and chorus.

Subsequent tracks sound more dissimilar as the album progresses, but nonetheless maintain that Empire Of The Sun synth pop sound. Even the subdued (relatively speaking) “We Are The People” can’t stop the duo’s momentum as it shifts from a techno western “Country” to a celestial serenading “The World” to a hip-hop Justin Timberlake “SexyBack”-esque “Swordfish Hotkiss Night.”

By movie standards, Walking On A Dream feels short, having taken the briefest path possible to the other side of the universe. If you ask Steele, he’ll explain that it was beyond their control because “we really wanted to surrender to the higher calling, to the project as being the motivator.” That might sound creepy, but when you realize there’s a true method to their seeming madness you take comfort in knowing there’s repeat button.

[photo via Sneak Attack Media]
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Track list:

1. Standing On The Shore
2. Walking On A Dream
3. Half Mast
4. We Are The People
5. Delta Bay
6. Country
7. The World
8. Swordfish Hotkiss Night
9. Tiger By My Side
10. Without You

Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore make up the Australian electronic rock duo Empire Of The Sun.

Empire Of The Sun released their debut album Walking On A Dream in October 2008, and I still can’t get the infectious title track out of my head.

Walking on a Dream — Empire of The Sun
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Lyrics:

“Walking On A Dream”

Walking on a dream
How can I explain
Talking to myself
Will I see again

We are always running for the thrill of it, thrill of it
Always pushing up the hill
Searching for the thrill of it
On and on and on we are calling out and out again
Never looking down I’m just in awe of what’s in front of me

Is it real now
When two people become one
I can feel it
When two people become one

Thought I’d never see
The love you found in me
Now it’s changing all the time
Living in a rhythm where the minutes working overtime

We are always running for the thrill of it, thrill of it
Always pushing up the hill
Searching for the thrill of it
On and on and on we are calling out and out again
Never looking down I’m just in awe of what’s in front of me

Is it real now
When two people become one
I can feel it
When two people become one

Catch me I’m falling down

Don’t stop just keep going on
I’m your shoulder lean upon
So come on deliver from inside
All we got is tonight that is right ‘til first light

[photo via Dazed Digital]

Dazed Digital interviewed Australian electronic rock duo Empire Of The Sun (Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore) on February 18, 2009.

The video interview is unfortunately only two minutes long, but it does provide a glimpse into the band’s serious musical approach within their eclectic and sometimes outlandish stage persona. Empire Of The Sun released their debut album Walking On A Dream in October 2008.

[photo via Dazed Digital]
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Walking On A Dream

Track list:

1. Standing On The Shore
2. Walking On A Dream
3. Half Mast
4. We Are The People
5. Delta Bay
6. Country
7. World
8. Swordfish Hotkiss Night
9. Tiger By My Side
10. Without You
11. Breakdown