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. World, The
8. Swordfish Hotkiss Night
9. Tiger By My Side
10. Without You

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #171 in Music
• Released on: 2008-02-16
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
The sleeve of Walking In A Dream features a delightfully airbrushed painting of Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore (for they are Empire of the Sun) showing them as a cross between characters from the Star Wars franchise and a Siegfried and Roy magic show. Clearly this collaboration of two Australian music veterans--Steele leads the long-running indie rock outfit Sleepy Jackson while Littlemore is a member of successful dance act Pnau--eschews the mundane and prefers the grand gesture. Taking their name from J.G. Ballard’s novel, later filmed by Steven Spielberg, they emerged last year with a striking Shanghai-shot video for the title track, a piece of measured electronic pop to match Daft Punk at their best. It isn’t the only obvious hit here, The lush "We Are The People" drags on just long enough to fix its wispy chorus in the listeners’ head while "Standing on the Shore" is stately eighties new wave, forever plodding into the distance. But Empire of the Sun are just as often plain odd. The sparse, clever instrumental "Country" is straightforwardly cinematic, a twanging guitar evoking the Twin Peaks theme. The loping "Swordfish Hotkiss Night" welds seamy R’n’B to more formal electronica. But "Delta Bay" is closer to Steele’s work as The Sleepy Jackson, off-kilter romanticism packed with vocal tics and unsure whether to seduce or unsettle. Even the sleepy, sweeping closer "Without You" is peculiar, Steele’s slurred tones making for a parody of a conventional ballad. Intriguing throughout, Walking On A Dream is one of the year’s least expected treats.--Steve Jelbert

CD Description
'Walking On A Dream' is the debut album from Australian duoEmpire Of The Sun. Comprising The Sleepy Jackson's Luke Steele and PNAU's Nick Littlemore, the duo have taken their inspiration from the early eighties new romantic and synth-pop scenes, creating an album of retro-electronic pop moments that have already earned them huge praise in their native Australia. The singles 'We Are The People' and 'Walking On A Dream' are included.

Customer Reviews

Sure to be big in 2009 - but try before you buy
I bought this album last year on import after being captivated by the video for "walking on a dream" and so have been listening to it for a couple of months now. I think Empire of the Sun will be to 2009 what MGMT were to 2008. This quirky Australian duo draw from a wide template of influences, mainly pop, electronic, and 80s soft-rock. They are already on many people's radar due to placing 4th in the BBCs "Sound of 2009", along with their spectacular concept videos for "Walking on a dream" and "We are the people" doing the rounds on internet. They are bound to be the darlings of the hipster music magazines and I predict that the aforementioned singles will be the sound-track to this summer. However, like MGMT, while the album has a handful of absolute top-drawer potential singles (the latter two, plus "Half Mast" and "Standing on the shore"), which will probably be the catchiest thing you will here all year, overall I would say the album is of patchy quality. "Country" is a nice chilled out instrumental, and "Swordfish Hotkiss night" raises the bar slightly again with its take on Prince styled funk, but there really is nothing else on offer of the quality of the first 4 tracks. My recommendation is to download the first 4 songs, but make sure you check out the rest prior to purchasing. Empire of the Sun are sure to be huge in 2009, and as artists with a fantastic vision, art direction, and potential mega hit singles they deserve it, but the album just isn't the world beater I was hoping for.

3.5 stars

its a hit
Id been listening to this album online and a family member downloaded it for me ..~I enjoyed it so much i finally decided to have a copy for the car.Then i can play it for other friends who may in turn like it.
I find this album very good in fact excellant and a change from the british groups as they come from Australia. I recommend to everyone.
Its a hit with my family and me so give it a whirl..

Worth getting into
Didn't know what to expect when buying this, but I'm glad I did. They have a really unique, immediately likeable sound. It's a strange mix of 80s pop, indie and synth stuff, and can get a little samey, but the songs each have their own blend of magic and it's really interesting to listen to.

It's a must buy.
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