Empire of the Sun (Virgin)
From the moment we saw this costumed duo striking extravagant poses against the backdrop of Shanghai’s skyline in the music video for Walking On A Dream, we loved them.
The music on their debut album is no less theatrical.
The kaleidoscopic electro on offer here might seem light years away from Luke Steele’s days helming alt.rock band The Sleepy Jackson, until you remember that delicious, ear-sating melodies have always been his stock in trade.
Combine these talents with Nick Littlemore of Pnau’s bent for tribal dance, and you have a marriage made in music heaven which reaches its zenith, surprisingly, on the cosmos expanding instrumental Country and the paradisical The World.
It’s all good.
Well, all except Without You, the kind of listless synth-ballad that should have been left behind in the ’80s.
The rest of the LP, though, is heading beyond the stars. ALISON GRINTER