Empire Of The Sun

Between their deeply immersive sound and otherworldly visual identity, the Australian electro-pop duo Empire of the Sun feel blissfully self-contained.

Luke Steele (born in 1979 and raised in Perth) and Nick Littlemore (born in Sydney in 1978) had already found success with The Sleepy Jackson and PNAU, respectively, but their teaming up for 2008’s Walking On a Dream vaulted them to the next level.

The title track introduced the project’s flair for cosmic theater and reeling falsetto, reshuffling just the right nostalgic cues into euphoric dance-floor catnip, while the acoustic-guitar gait of “We Are the People” evoked the folky twang of Steele’s former band.