Empire Of The Sun: Walking On A Dream

Its hard to truly describe Empire Of The Sun and their debut album in words, but here goes: you could call their presence overtly theatrical but that detriments their sound, you could call them Indie-Pop but in reality, the music only holds certain elements of both those genres and actually leans more toward psychedelic, experimental and even dance.

Trying to get across what this duo create in terms of music is like trying to describe what the effect a drug has on the mind to someone who’s never touched an illegal substance in their life. You have to do it to understand, you have to hear it, to truly get it (no we are not endorsing drugs, it’s an analogy. Stay in school kids).

Behind each track is presence of electronic warmth and laid-back rhythm, usually with a catchy hook layered comfortably on top. The album’s title track and first single Walking On A Dream is a beach scene with a twinkling ocean and glistening sand, drifting melodically on a slight breeze. It’s organic, well structured and introduces you to the band’s sound perfectly. If any of the songs on here encapsulate what Empire Of The Sun are all about, it is most certainly this one. That being said, the chorus’ first line “We are always running for the thrill of it, thrill of it, always pushing up the hill searching for the thrill of it” could have been written by an eight year old.

The one problem many listeners will find with this record is the vocals. Lead singer Luke Steele’s voice is one of those Marmite type scenarios where you’ll either instantly get used to the nasal delivery and high pitched tone or hate every word that exits his mouth. We’d recommend attempting at growing accustomed to the voice as this album is certainly enjoyable even if the vocals hit a nerve.

Half Mast accentuates this point with a catchy, gentle chorus and Steele allowing his voice to do as it pleases. It’s a great track that transitions flawlessly into next track We Are The People. The band chose this song as their second single and it’s easy to see why. It’s more serious than the aforementioned Walking On A Dream single but still holds mainstream crossover success. It’s ridiculously well crafted (as much of this album is) and sucks you in for the four and a half minutes it plays.

Country is a purely instrumental track that sounds akin to some of the better Rokysopp material. It dances around a catchy bass riff and subtly pushes twinkling percussion to the front of the track.

The record begins to falls short as it progresses and boasts a bit of filler as we near the end but the music never once comes across as monotonous. The first half however, still remains the major highlight here.

Empire Of The Sun's music creates an alternate realm where there’s no worries or bothers, just laid back music and a sprawling beach to recline on. There are occasional blips throughout the record (take Delta Bay’s ridiculously over the top, robotic vocals as an example. They're completely unnecessary and sound disjointed amongst the rest of the music) and the second half could have been beefier but overall, it’s a promising debut from a unique band that’s representing a sound that defies specification.