| | |  | | Home » Walking on a Dream | | | | | | | Product Promotions: | | | | | Description: | | EMPIRE OF THE SUN is the new psychedelic project led by Australians Luke Steele (of The Sleepy Jackson) and Nick Littlemore (P'Nau). Exotic, gaudy, and lavish, Empire Of The Sun brings together these two unlikely collaborators from Australian pop, and so began a friendship which Luke describes as "this fireball of electricity". Walking On A Dream is a bold, visionary and brilliant album, which manages to sound exhilaratingly contemporary, audaciously forward-looking, yet also curiously archaic all at once. From Nick and Luke's collective unconscious arose a rare marriage of rock and electronica, immediacy and depth, futurism and tradition, hi-tech production and creative spontaneity, pop melody and the cinematic. The duo are preparing to carry through on their audio-visual vision for their band, demonstrated by the video for the first single and title track, filmed in Shanghai and getting massive online attention (done renegade style, it's illegal to film there and at one point they nearly got arrested). Given the unusual track records of both the band's constituent members - not to mention the jaw-dropping magnificence of their debut album together - it's safe to say, in the words of NME... "world domination quite literally awaits". | | | Features: | |
• EMPIRE OF THE SUN WALKING ON A DREAM
| | | Product Details: | | | Audio CD Release Date:
| April 21, 2009 | | Studio:
| Astralwerks | | Number Of Discs:
| 1 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 43 reviews |
| | | Track Listing: | | | 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 | |
| | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 43 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 28 found the following review helpful:
 EotS stand out from their peersApr 27, 2009
By Matthew Ellis
I have been constantly amazed at the depth of this album since picking it up earlier in the year. There hasn't been a band I've so strongly endorsed in years, and part of that is because I think it's accessible to so many different listeners. The production showcases the brilliants melodies perfectly. I haven't cared much for groups like MGMT that have all the feel but no depth. Those groups can certainly kick out a couple singles with catchy keyboard riffs, but they don't have the substance or lyrics to match. It's fitting that Empire of the Sun has such a strong fantasy concept and don't take themselves too seriously, yet have crafted an album that isn't mired in its own kitsch. This accomplishment is truly what sets them apart from the soundalikes that were in this sonic territory first.
11 of 12 found the following review helpful:
Like walking on a dream...Jul 14, 2009
By Nse Ette
You'd be forgiven for thinking you were back in the Eighties, what with new CDs from Depeche Mode, Pet Shop boys, as well as Eighies-aping acts like La Roux, Little Boots, MGMT and Amazing Baby, to mention a few.
Add Aussie duo Empire Of The Sun to that list. If nice chiming guitars,shimmery synths, fun lyrics and stomping beats are your thing, look no further than the duo's debut "Walking on a dream". Comprising just 10 tracks at a little over 43 minutes, it is shiny Electro Pop perfection.
Sunny, and catchy describes much of the album with a sound matching their flamboyant androgynous image, from opening "Standing on the shore", "Walking on a dream" (with an airy falsetto sung chorus), the chugging "Half mast" to the guitar-festooned sublime "We are the people" ("We are the people/that rule the world" sung in strangled vocals - my absolute favourite).
The bouncy "Delta bay" features Gremlin-sounding vocals in the verses and airy falsetto everyhwere else, while "Country" is a lovely acoustic instrumental (think French duo Air ) with electronic flourishes that makes you feel you're by the sea. "The world" is a psychedelic ambient ballad with a swirling feel, while "Swordfish hotkiss night" is heavily Electro with whispered Prince-style vocals, stabbing synths and sitar effects. "Tiger by my side" takes us back to the bouncy Pop of the earlier half of the disc, while closing is the melancholic spare sounding synth-driven ballad "Without you" (think Ultravox's "Vienna").
Listening to this album, one feels as though "Walking on a dream".
8 of 11 found the following review helpful:
An Incredible AlbumDec 02, 2008
By M. Hull
A wonderful collaboration and a fantastic album. I was introduced to this album with "Walking on a Dream" and "Half Mast" and found the rest of the album entirely spell binding. Love it!
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
new popMay 11, 2010
By Matteo Basso
cool album,a new kind of modern synth pop!
great sounds and good songs. good works!
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Walking and Dreaming, but in Every DirectionApr 20, 2010
By Ian Toner
Empire of the Sun's Walking on a Dream release is just as airy, ridiculous, and imaginative as the names of said band and album. Rising to prominence from the Australian electro-pop scene and unlikely cameos on hip-hop mixtapes (see Wiz Khalifa's track titled "The Thrill"), Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore's brainchild manages to blend Klaxon-, JET-, and MGMT-esque sounds and influences into a compelling composition.
Walking on a Dream opens with "Standing on the Shore," a track that would be better off without its lyrical accompaniment. Airy guitar and keyboard riffs woven together through mixed meter set the tone for a calm, almost ambient listening experience. Yet the high-pitched, whiny vocals, reminiscent of many British pop groups, ground the song by distracting the listener from tracking the evolution of its pleasant melody. "Walking On a Dream," the album's title track, is full of (surprise!) airy keyboard riffs that wax nostalgic for the days of neon-loving `80s pop. Its falsetto vocals and strong hip-hop beats (juxtaposed to the airier synth sounds) remind the listener of MGMT's Oracular Spectacular tracks. What's more, instances of light, isolated synth and keyboard melodies continue the pseudo-ambient listening experience started in "Standing on the Shore."
Walking On a Dream's subsequent tracks ("Half Mast," "We Are the People," and "Delta Bay") constitute a fairly serious departure from that pseudo-ambient environment that the first two tracks had worked to construct. The high-pitched, whiny vocals move closer and closer to center stage, and the tracks take on more JET-esque rock influences, with louder guitars and even the introduction of tambourines (of all instruments). These tracks definitely blend Empire of the Sun's sound into a number of music scenes (pop, electro-pop, alternative rock, etc.), rather than highlight or distinguish it apart from (or as an innovator in) those music scenes.
The rest of Empire of the Sun's debut album has very little unifying material, as there is little connection between the tracks. While there's nothing wrong with branching out and experimenting within an album, it's just surprising how disconnected many of the tracks are from one another. "Country" is a beautiful, rambling acoustic ballad that reminds the listener of Coldplay's lighter tracks off Viva la Vida (like Strawberry Swing and Lovers in Japan); "The World" plays up the whiny vocals once again and would fit much better on The Klaxons' next album; "Swordfish Hotkiss Night" ventures into entirely uncharted territory (previously on the album) by demo-ing sample-heavy, electronic (arguably electronische) sounds; "Tiger By My Side" brings airy guitars back to the forefront, reminding listeners of A-Ha's "Take On Me," with possible DX7-synthesizer influences; and "Without You" closes out the album with a mellow (but still airy!) ballad that was definitely crafted to be the slow song at some `80s high school prom or another.
Empire of the Sun clearly tried very hard to make Walking on a Dream live in the 1980s and 2000s at the same time. In many respects, it succeeds, as tracks like Walking on a Dream and We Are the People have risen on charts in the US, UK, and Australia. The catchy, keyboard-heavy melodies also make for some easy listening. But the album's experimentation into so many different fields definitely leaves the listener a little puzzled. For its next album, Empire of the Sun should focus on the elements in "Walking On a Dream," "We Are the People," "Country," and "Tiger on My Side" to develop its identity and zero in on an appealing sound with unifying themes.
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