News October 5, 2016

How Fleetwood Mac and Buddha inspired Empire of the Sun

Empire of the Sun drop their third studio album Two Vines on October 28.

According to Nick Littlemore, who now sports onstage the Buddhist colour of orange, the album reflected a “spiritual awakening” they went through just before they began writing the record.

He told Entertainment Weekly, “I had a profound experience about a year and a half ago. Buddha was revealed to through meditation and that really affected me. The theme really rushed through me: I wanted to write about plants and love and the planet.

“We had the idea of an image where the future of the world would be New York City, or any of these great cities, but completely covered in vines.

Also an inspiration were vinyl records from ‘70s soft pop acts as 10cc and Fleetwood Mac.

The epic scale and ambition of the music saw Littlemore and Luke Steele bring in a diverse array of guests. These included pianist/arranger Henry Hey and bassist Tim Lefebvre from David Bowie‘s Blackstar band; Wendy Melvoin from Prince‘s Revolution; and Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham.

Thefirst taster to the album was the single High & Low featured on the FIFA 17 soundtrack. It has had over 4.5 million global streams

Now comes the mellow acoustic To Her Door, about a conversation between a couple a day after a huge argument, reflects the style of “Fleetwood Mac’s warmest records — such as Hold Me or Gypsy.

Lindsey Buckingham play guitar and contribute vocals. It was a collaboration which the duo describes as “a dream come true.”

When Steele sent a proposal about working together, Buckingham was keen. He not only was a fan of Empire of the Sun but had time to spare as Mac had just come off their world tour.

Littlemore said, “To Her Door started with us just improvising in the studio with Lindsey. After the first jam, which was probably about an hour, we turned up his parts and there were so many beautiful gems.

“You could hear all of the years of playing that he’s done with Fleetwood Mac coming through. That was quite early on, so that was a big inspiration for us.”

Buckingham recalled, “I loved working with Luke and Nick. Their process was open and collaborative, and their balance of sensibilities between pop and art is beautiful. I was glad to have contributed!”

Earlier in the year, Honda Civic used a new Manny Marroquin mix of their 2008 hit Walking On A Dream for a TV ad, the track entered the US Top 100. It is expected To Her Door will find them more mainstream fans.

Their first album Walking On A Dream sold 1.5 million copies worldwide. Eight ARIA awards (including Album of The Year, Single of the Year and Best Group) and two BRIT nominations (including Best International Album) followed.

Walking On A Dream and Ice On The Dune jointly sold 3 million and singles Alive, We Are The People and Walking On A Dream went multi-platinum.

Two Vines was recorded in Hawaii and Los Angeles, with producer Peter Mayes (Sia, The Killers) and collaborator Donnie Sloan.

“Going to Hawaii to record was the best idea,” Steele said, referencing Honolulu’s Avex Studios where Kanye West recorded 2010’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. “That was the catalyst for me. I’d spend the morning surfing, then roll in and make music into the night.”

Littlemore added, “There was an image we talked about very early on with this record, before we wrote the title track Two Vines and that was this image of a modern city overtaken by jungle, almost like Mother Nature taking back the planet.

“All the buildings will turn back to sand. All it will be is nature again. We wanted to make something that reflected the beauty of that, and the wisdom that plants can give us about living harmoniously on this beautiful planet.”

Empire of the Sun have also become a formidable live act. one of the highlights of Coachella and drawing a sell-out crowd of 17,000 to the Hollywood Bowl.

How the concept of Two Vines will reflect in their new stage show will be revealed when the band spend October playing shows across Europe, their first there in three years. They’ll be in Australia in January 2017 including FOMO Festival in Sydney and Brisbane.

Empire of the Sun – Two Vines Track List