Empire Of The Sun Soundtracks New Tourism Campaign
“Walking On A Dream,” the 2008 Empire Of The Sun hit, soundtracks Western Australia’s latest $15 million tourism campaign.
It launches nationally today across TV, press, radio, digital and social platforms and will later play in eleven countries.
The track was re-recorded by Empire’s WA-raised frontman Luke Steele to sound more ethereal, to send the message of WA as a wondrous, otherworldly and dreamlike destination to visit.
This was achieved by using the angelic voice of his 13-year-old daughter Sunny Tiger (who fronts her band Ghost Remote) and the Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir.
Steele said the idea behind new version was “not to lose the magic and simple beauty” of the original.
“It was like a prayer, a conversation with God that was filled with joy and hope,” he said.
The musician and his family moved out of Los Angeles after the pandemic to a ranch on an isolated property in Northern California with snakes, black bears, deer and scorpions.
Steele returned to Perth after four years to join the campaign’s official announcement.
WA Premier Mark McGowan added, “These dreamlike experiences – which are a reality here in WA – will appeal to visitors from across the country and all around the world.”
He said the $15 million intrastate, interstate and international campaign will “make our state truly shine in a crowded global marketplace and elevate WA as a destination of choice for travellers both interstate and internationally.”
First Nation performers Rika Hamaguchi and Ian Wilkes star in the ad which highlights destinations as Ningaloo Reef on the Coral Coast, vineyards of Margaret River, the Perth city skyline and the Bungle Bungle Range of the Kimberley’s Purnululu National Park.
“Walking On A Dream” was one of the most distinguished tracks to come out of WA.
In Australia it went to No.10 on the ARIA Charts and was certified 5 x Platinum.
It was No.4 in the 2008 triple j Hottest 100, won the 2009 ARIA for Single of the Year and took out Dance Work of the Year at the APRA Music Awards.
It was a hit throughout Europe, generated 181 million YouTube views, and synced in the 2012 racing video game “Forza Horizon”.
It was used in the 2016 Honda Civic “The Dreamer” ad, which saw it enter the U.S. Hot 100.
The new tourism campaign was developed by the Brand agency in close consultation with the travel industry, WA’s First Nations tourism sector and elders from various communities.
Tourism Minister Roger Cook said, “In the year before COVID-19 the total visitor spend contributed $13.5 billion and 100,000 jobs to the WA economy.”