Empire of the Sun May Be A Black Dwarf

I first encountered Empire of the Sun before the release of their album “Walking On a Dream.” Some of their earlier material made its way to last.fm and a consequential “suggested band” notice brought me to listen to “Walking On a Dream” (the song). It was catchy. It had falsetto. The singers sported ludicrous costumes. They practically channel MGMT (careful – the landing page for their site is a bit of a mind-fuck) – how could I refuse?

Please note that I take some pride in the fact that I just managed to piss every Empire of the Sun über-fan off. The vehement cries of “they aren’t MGMT!” echo across the internet with such force that I almost believe them… Almost. But the style and pretty much everything else are just entirely too similar to dispel all comparisons, and MGMT was here first. Nice try though.

I like glam artists. Yes, the bulk of them are crazy and more often than not the music itself seems to suffer as a result of a focus on the visual elements of the performance, but the scene still manages to produce some of the best songs in terms of creativity and emotional appeal. Empire of the Sun managed to get four together.

The first four songs of the album are dynamite, and then, suddenly, everything becomes underwhelming for me. The tunes that for the first 15 minutes inspired so much affinity morph into the sonic equivalent of a black dwarf – a star too weak to produce significant heat or light. They just fail to impress after such a promising opening – a sad and unfortunate occurrence since the album clearly shows a lot of potential but simply doesn’t find a way to follow through.

I know there are those who would disagree with me (the same people who would lynch me for the aforementioned MGMT reference), but I just fail to see the genius carry into “Delta Bay” and beyond. Fischerspooner managed to do much the same thing with their album “#1” – “Emerge” was the only song on the entire thing to move me in any significant way (and I loved it), but they couldn’t duplicate the success anywhere else.

With all this said, the first four tracks for Empire of the Sun are grand and definitely worth a listen. In fact, listen to the whole thing and form an opinion for yourself (as you always should). Just don’t be surprised when after a rousing (if not somehow sad) “We Are the People” you suddenly notice that your mind has wandered off and is currently pondering when recycle is collected next.

What to take away…

Empire of the Sun’s “Walking On a Dream” album is a promising start for the group, but we certainly hope their next release manages to hold our attention much longer. Despite our dissapointment however, “Standing On the Shore,” “Walking On a Dream,” “Half Mast,” and “We Are the People” are outstanding tracks in need of listening.

What should you expect?

Visual artistry and poppy electronic songs that will cleverly lure you in and then proceed to bore you for two thirds of the play time.

What drink would Empire of the Sun pair with?

An appletini. I think the color and presentation are key.

Favorite song?

I waffle between “Walking On a Dream” and “We Are the People” – it depends on my mood as “We Are the People” has some sad undercurrents that are hard to identify.