Empire of the Sun Sets ‘Ask That God’ Tour
Empire of the Sun rises again with a tour in support of Ask That God, the forthcoming fourth studio album by the electro-pop outfit from Down Under.
Led by Luke Steele (frontman of indie-rock act The Sleepy Jackson) and Lord Littlemore (Nick Littlemore of electronic trio PNAU), Empire of the Sun will embark on a tour of Australia, kicking off Oct. 24 at Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, and visiting Melbourne, Brisbane and wrapping Nov. 1 with a show at Red Hill Auditorium, in Steele’s hometown, Perth.
The national trek, produced by Frontier Touring, is the first announced in support of Ask That God, the group’s first album in eight years. Additional treks are yet to be announced.
Due out July 26 (via EMI Australia), Ask That God is led by the first singles “Changes” and “Music On The Radio;” both are accompanied with sparkling, Michael Maxxis-helmed music videos that capture Steele and Littlemore in all their astral-wizardry.
Ask That God is the follow-up to 2016’s Two Vines, which logged at week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Dance/Electronic Albums and featured contributions from Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham, Wendy Melvoin from Prince’s Revolution band and two members of David Bowie’s Blackstar band, pianist Henry Hey and bassist Tim Lefebvre.
To build the buzz, Empire of the Sun today shared behind the scenes footage from the “Changes” music video.
“Ask That God is an album we searched for and were thankfully blessed with. We are nothing more than conduits, gathering experience and finding what is meant for the Empire to find,” explains Steele.
Since their breakthrough debut album from 2008, Walking On A Dream, which housed the title track and “We Are The People,” Empire of the Sun has collected eight ARIA Awards (including four at the 2009 ceremony), two APRA Music Awards, an APRA Billions Award, and collected 7.6 billion streams, according to EMI.
“Walking On A Dream” belatedly cracked the Billboard Hot 100 in 2016, peaking at No. 65, after hitching a ride with a Honda Civic campaign. The track would become a U.S. chart leader, hitting No. 1 on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs, for their second leader after 2013’s “Alive” – a song that was released five years after “Walking on a Dream.” Empire of the Sun would also preside over the Billboard + Clio Music’s Top Commercials chart for successive months in the United States, where the single is now platinum certified.
Littlemore hinted at some hidden gems in an interview with Billboard in 2021. “There’s a lot of great music in the bag. I’m hoping that will see the light of day,” Littlemore told this reporter. “I have great faith. I don’t feel we have exhausted that well by any stretch. The name still has a lot of goodwill. I really hope we can come together and finish it.”
Lars Brandle
Billboard
