Albums : Empire Of The Sun : Ice On The Dune
Albums : Empire Of The Sun : Ice On The Dune
Listen To Empire Of The Sun : Ice On The Dune
Empire Of The Sun, Tribes and King Krule will all perform at this year's Wilderness Festival.
Noah And The Whale, Tom Odell, Melody's Echo Chamber, Ghostpoet, Lucy Rose and Michael Kiwanuka have also been confirmed for the four-day bash, which takes place from August 8-11 at Cornbury Park near Charlbury, Oxfordshire.
In addition, Wilderness Festival 2013 will feature a rare set from Rodriguez (pictured), the reclusive folk musician who became the subject of Searching For Sugar Man, winner of this year's Oscar for best documentary film.
Rodriguez said in a statement: "It is an honour and pleasure to be included to perform at this year's Wilderness. I am told that it is at a beautiful location, so we are definitely looking forward to the scene."
Meanwhile, Empire Of The Sun's set will be their only UK festival performance of 2013. Weekend tickets are priced at £139 with family weekend tickets costing £335. Children under ten go free.
To check the availability of Wilderness Festival tickets and get all the latest listings, go to NME.COM/TICKETS, or call 0871 230 1094
Ice On The Dune Review
The year 2013 is basically the party that the Aussie glam-wizards of Empire of the Sun traveled light years to DJ: David Bowie released his first album in 10 years, Pet Shop Boys are going on tour, and Australia was empirically named the “happiest place on earth.” But now that they’re back, it seems all they want to do is escape. Judging by their New Wave-influenced sophomore release, the duo’s getaway vehicle of choice is a DeLorean and the destination is “A meadow where we lie back in the spring of 1979″ (“DNA”). Time to go, Doc. Vocalist Luke Steele and co-writer Nick Littlemore comprise the otherworldly electro pop band. Their 2008 debut, Walking On A Dream, was a portrait of Steele’s declamatory disco vibes fashioned in science fiction-meets-Zelda mythology. That album emerged stateside during indie music’s fixation on foggy fantasies and face paint a la MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular and Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest. While those artists eclipsed the Empire, Dream hung on as a cult favorite in America while it dominated abroad: double platinum in Australia and gold in Ireland, Germany, and the U.K.
Diehard fans will identify Ice on the Dune as more loyal to Littlemore’s band Pnau than to Steele’s alt-rock band The Sleepy Jackson. Pnau (rhymes with “meow”) is like the Glee form of Empire of the Sun: big, embellished ballads and a helping hand from Elton John. Dune follows in Pnau’s lush production style. The aim is: “surrender to the beat”, which would be fine and good, except nobody ever agreed to surrender Steele’s awesomely flamboyant voice in the process.
First single “Alive” strikes a balance with roller-rink escapism and a schoolyard chorus that’s reminiscent of the gone-too-soon band Black Kids. The song itself doesn’t quite ‘win’ until you see the video, which is how Duran Duran existed for years. Steele dons a long Etruscan cape like The Little Prince at Studio 54 while an Amazonian/desert woman darts from sight. Her name might as well be Rio with the way she dances on the sand. All that is merely a tease at Dune’s grandiose offerings of 1980s New Wave. The album’s preamble (“Lux”) arrives with a cinematic marching band, appreciated by the handful of people who still pre-game to Pet Shop Boys’ “Go West”. But it all irks Steele, who whines “I don’t wanna be so complicated” (“Concert Pitch”) in a dance-floor tantrum inspired by the many Neil Tennant had himself.
Dune offers plenty of accessible, danceable fun. It’s neither better nor worse than Dream, but for all that talk of “pushing through four dimensions” (“Surround Sound”), the album remains planted in its comfort zone. There are moments to love: the many ways Steele pronounces the word “awakening”, his fractured shrieks (“Celebrate”), and a spin on the old electric harpsichord (“Old Flavours”). I can’t decide whether the best part of “I’ll Be Around” is the lute solo or the bridge of groans. If this is what space travel is like, it’s possible Eddie Money’s music was engineered by NASA.
Despite all the digital acrobatics, the standout is closer “Keep A Watch”, an anti-gravity slow jam where Steele steps beyond his synthesizer (not really), bringing unexpected emotions to the table. It instantly conjures Bowie’s haunting flamenco, “Lady Grinning Soul”, also the last track on the iconic 1973 album, Aladdin Sane. But forty years ago, evocation was just as bizarre for the star man as it is today for Empire of the Sun. Makes you wonder what the Empire might accomplish with a touch of that old time, ground-controlled rock n’ roll.
Contact Empire Of The Sun
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Sources : Empire Of The Sun Photo | Listen To Ice On The Dune | Empire Of The Sun Article | Ice On The Dune Review
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Listen To Empire Of The Sun : Ice On The Dune
Empire Of The Sun, Tribes and King Krule will all perform at this year's Wilderness Festival.
Noah And The Whale, Tom Odell, Melody's Echo Chamber, Ghostpoet, Lucy Rose and Michael Kiwanuka have also been confirmed for the four-day bash, which takes place from August 8-11 at Cornbury Park near Charlbury, Oxfordshire.
In addition, Wilderness Festival 2013 will feature a rare set from Rodriguez (pictured), the reclusive folk musician who became the subject of Searching For Sugar Man, winner of this year's Oscar for best documentary film.
Rodriguez said in a statement: "It is an honour and pleasure to be included to perform at this year's Wilderness. I am told that it is at a beautiful location, so we are definitely looking forward to the scene."
Meanwhile, Empire Of The Sun's set will be their only UK festival performance of 2013. Weekend tickets are priced at £139 with family weekend tickets costing £335. Children under ten go free.
To check the availability of Wilderness Festival tickets and get all the latest listings, go to NME.COM/TICKETS, or call 0871 230 1094
Ice On The Dune Review
The year 2013 is basically the party that the Aussie glam-wizards of Empire of the Sun traveled light years to DJ: David Bowie released his first album in 10 years, Pet Shop Boys are going on tour, and Australia was empirically named the “happiest place on earth.” But now that they’re back, it seems all they want to do is escape. Judging by their New Wave-influenced sophomore release, the duo’s getaway vehicle of choice is a DeLorean and the destination is “A meadow where we lie back in the spring of 1979″ (“DNA”). Time to go, Doc. Vocalist Luke Steele and co-writer Nick Littlemore comprise the otherworldly electro pop band. Their 2008 debut, Walking On A Dream, was a portrait of Steele’s declamatory disco vibes fashioned in science fiction-meets-Zelda mythology. That album emerged stateside during indie music’s fixation on foggy fantasies and face paint a la MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular and Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest. While those artists eclipsed the Empire, Dream hung on as a cult favorite in America while it dominated abroad: double platinum in Australia and gold in Ireland, Germany, and the U.K.
Diehard fans will identify Ice on the Dune as more loyal to Littlemore’s band Pnau than to Steele’s alt-rock band The Sleepy Jackson. Pnau (rhymes with “meow”) is like the Glee form of Empire of the Sun: big, embellished ballads and a helping hand from Elton John. Dune follows in Pnau’s lush production style. The aim is: “surrender to the beat”, which would be fine and good, except nobody ever agreed to surrender Steele’s awesomely flamboyant voice in the process.
First single “Alive” strikes a balance with roller-rink escapism and a schoolyard chorus that’s reminiscent of the gone-too-soon band Black Kids. The song itself doesn’t quite ‘win’ until you see the video, which is how Duran Duran existed for years. Steele dons a long Etruscan cape like The Little Prince at Studio 54 while an Amazonian/desert woman darts from sight. Her name might as well be Rio with the way she dances on the sand. All that is merely a tease at Dune’s grandiose offerings of 1980s New Wave. The album’s preamble (“Lux”) arrives with a cinematic marching band, appreciated by the handful of people who still pre-game to Pet Shop Boys’ “Go West”. But it all irks Steele, who whines “I don’t wanna be so complicated” (“Concert Pitch”) in a dance-floor tantrum inspired by the many Neil Tennant had himself.
Dune offers plenty of accessible, danceable fun. It’s neither better nor worse than Dream, but for all that talk of “pushing through four dimensions” (“Surround Sound”), the album remains planted in its comfort zone. There are moments to love: the many ways Steele pronounces the word “awakening”, his fractured shrieks (“Celebrate”), and a spin on the old electric harpsichord (“Old Flavours”). I can’t decide whether the best part of “I’ll Be Around” is the lute solo or the bridge of groans. If this is what space travel is like, it’s possible Eddie Money’s music was engineered by NASA.
Despite all the digital acrobatics, the standout is closer “Keep A Watch”, an anti-gravity slow jam where Steele steps beyond his synthesizer (not really), bringing unexpected emotions to the table. It instantly conjures Bowie’s haunting flamenco, “Lady Grinning Soul”, also the last track on the iconic 1973 album, Aladdin Sane. But forty years ago, evocation was just as bizarre for the star man as it is today for Empire of the Sun. Makes you wonder what the Empire might accomplish with a touch of that old time, ground-controlled rock n’ roll.
Contact Empire Of The Sun
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Vevo | Instagram | iTunes | GM | AU Press | UK Press | USA Press | AU/NZ Booking | UK/Europe Booking | USA Booking
Contact NME Magazine
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram | YouTube | Soundcloud
Contact Consequence of Sound (COS)
Website | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
Sources : Empire Of The Sun Photo | Listen To Ice On The Dune | Empire Of The Sun Article | Ice On The Dune Review
Purchase : iTunes | Amazon | Walmart | Best Buy
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