Empire of the Sun
Empire of the Sun | |
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Empire of the Sun live in Perth (2009) |
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General information | |
Genre (s) | Synthpop , synth rock |
founding | 2007 |
Website | empireofthesun.com |
Current occupation | |
Singing, guitar, piano, synthesizer |
Luke Steele |
Vocals, drums, synthesizers |
Nick Littlemore |
Empire of the Sun ( English for 'Empire of the Sun') is an Australian music project. It was founded in 2007 by Luke Steele , the singer of the alternative rock - band The Sleepy Jackson and Nick Littlemore (* 6. May 1978 ), one half of the band Pnau established, and follows musically similar electro style as Little More's main project.
Surname
During a TV interview for the broadcaster ARTE , the band announced that their name was not inspired by Ballard's novel or Spielberg 's film of the same name . Rather, it is about the sun as a connecting element for the whole universe.
history
After working on their first album, Empire of the Sun released the single Walking on a Dream on August 30, 2008 . It was received positively by Australian radio stations and reached number 10 on the Australian singles chart. The album Walking on a Dream , released five weeks later, went straight to number 8. On February 21, 2009, the second single We Are the People was released. However, the song only reached number 65 in Germany.
For the solar eclipse of July 22nd, 2009 , the band showed an internet broadcast in the style of a black-and-white appearance, in which only Luke Steele and his wife can be seen. It was distributed via the “Eclipse of the Sun” website and uploaded to popular platforms. The songs Breakdown and Swordfish Hotkiss Night are played in it.
In 2009, the car company Hyundai accompanied its television commercial with the title Walking on a Dream . At the end of 2010, the telecommunications provider Vodafone used the title We Are the People in an advertising campaign that ran on German television from October 27, 2010. Shortly after it was first broadcast in Germany, the song reached number 1 in the sales charts of the iTunes download portal . After re-entering the German single charts , it also reached number 1 there in early December . In the third calendar week of 2011 it became known that over 300,000 units could be sold in Germany alone, so that the single achieved platinum status .
Discography
Albums
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||||
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DE | AT | CH | UK | US | AU | |||
2008 | Walking on a dream |
DE31
gold
(22 weeks)DE |
AT22 (14 weeks) AT |
CH15 (32 weeks) CH |
UK19th
gold
(26 weeks)UK |
US97
gold
(3 weeks)US |
AU6th × 3
(54 weeks)AU |
First published: October 3, 2008
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2013 | Ice on the Dune |
DE34 (3 weeks) DE |
AT37 (1 week) AT |
CH7 (9 weeks) CH |
UK24 (2 weeks) UK |
US20 (3 weeks) US |
AU3
gold
(7 weeks)AU |
First published: June 14, 2013
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2016 | Two vines | - | - |
CH42 (1 week) CH |
UK42 (1 week) UK |
US51 (1 week) US |
AU7 (3 weeks) AU |
First published: October 28, 2016
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Singles
year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||||
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DE | AT | CH | UK | US | AU | |||
2008 | Walking on a Dream Walking on a Dream |
DE55 (13 weeks) DE |
- |
CH21 (33 weeks) CH |
UK64
gold
(9 weeks)UK |
US65
platinum
(5 weeks)US |
AU10 × 5
(34 weeks)AU |
First published: August 30, 2008
in US only placed in 2016 |
We Are the People Walking on a Dream |
DE1 × 3
(52 weeks)DE |
AT2
gold
(25 weeks)AT |
CH20th
gold
(45 weeks)CH |
UK14th
gold
(21 weeks)UK |
- |
AU24 × 2
(17 weeks)AU |
First published: September 20, 2008
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2013 | Alive Ice on the Dune |
DE39 (17 weeks) DE |
AT16 (17 weeks) AT |
CH25 (16 weeks) CH |
UK83 (1 week) UK |
US-
gold
US
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AU22nd × 2
(13 weeks)AU |
First published: April 15, 2013
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2016 | High and Low Two Vines |
- | - | - | - | - |
AU-
gold
AU
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First published: August 24, 2016
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More singles
- 2009: Standing on the Shore (Walking on a Dream)
- 2009: Without You (Walking on a Dream)
- 2010: Half Mast (Slight Return) (Walking on a Dream)
- 2013: DNA (Ice on the Dune)
- 2014: Celebrate (Ice on the Dune)
- 2016: To Her (Door Two Vines)
Awards for music sales
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Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.
Country / Region | gold | platinum | Sales | swell |
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Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources) |
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Australia (ARIA) | 2 × gold2 | 12 × platinum12 | 910,000 | aria.com.au |
Germany (BVMI) | 2 × gold2 | platinum1 | 550,000 | musikindustrie.de |
Italy (FIMI) | gold1 | platinum1 | 55,000 | fimi.it |
Austria (IFPI) | gold1 | - | 15,000 | ifpi.at |
Switzerland (IFPI) | gold1 | - | 15,000 | hitparade.ch |
United States (RIAA) | 2 × gold2 | platinum1 | 2,000,000 | riaa.com |
United Kingdom (BPI) | 3 × gold3 | - | 900,000 | bpi.co.uk |
All in all | 12 × gold12 | 15 × platinum15th |
Web links
- Official website (English)
- Eclipse broadcast on Youtube
- Empire of the Sun record review on lifestyle-mag.de