Empire of the Sun - Walking on a Dream

Empire Of The Sun is a collaborative project between Pnau`s Nick Littlemore and Luke Steele of The Sleepy Jackson. The album is retro (think 80`s synth bands) without being irritating and electro enough (think Ladyhawke or Walter Meego) to sound new and fresh (there may even be a little Prince and Vangelis thrown in for good measure). The album is full of catchy numbers and really shows the pop sensibility of the duo.

The first half of the album has a slower mellow feel, like the title track `Walking on a dream` or acoustic guitar driven (and really catchy) `We are the people`. It then moves towards the almost instrumental, `Delta Bay`, the completely instrumental `Country` (my personal favorite) and symphonic feeling `The World`. Then the album takes a turn, going into the more garage, indie sounding, last few tracks like `Swordfish Hotkiss Night ` and `Tiger by my side`. The duo close the album with the ballad `without you` (which has hints of `The Cars` classic `Who`s gonna take you home`) that could easily have closed any 80`s teen movie.

I am not sure if this album was planned as just a one off event but if they continue to make music, I will be listening (I am also waiting for the remix album as almost every song is ripe for a dance floor redo). This is the best electro-pop soundtrack to nonexistent fantasy film I`ve had to pleasure of hearing.

8 out of 10


Empire of the Sun Myspace!

Empire of the Sun Website!