You know that moment when you discover a new band – one so awesome their music slaps you across the face the second it starts to play? You’re left standing there, wondering why you were so clueless about this band and how did you live your life without them in it?
Empire of the Sun just smacked me across the face. This Aussie duo may look like sad-David Bowie wannabes, but the sound of their music spans genres and even decades. A little bit of electronic, a little bit of 80s, a little bit of rap, a little bit of pop, and a whole lot of rock. Their music is catchy and uplifting – suddenly the synthesizer has become novel again, playing side by side with cheery lyrics like “We are always running for the thrill of it/ thrill of it/ always pushing up the hill searching for the thrill of it.”
It is no doubt that they will get quite a few MGMT comparisons, but I’d like to argue that Empire of the Sun is actually better. Formed by Luke Steele of the Sleepy Jackson and Nick Littlemore of Pnau, they may appear to be 80s fantasy fiction characters at times, but so long as they sound like this, who cares what kind of make-up they fancy?
Click here to check out their music video for “Walking On A Dream”.