Empire of the Sun Talk New Album & Why 'Sound is the Medicine of the Future'

On the occasion of their recently released fourth studio album, Ask That GodEmpire of the Sun's Nick Littlemore and Luke Steele recently dropped by the Billboard News studio to talk new music and the past, present and future of their long-running project.

“We had to shut down all the computers, we had to shut down everything, and even though the pandemic was horrible, for the band I thought it was a bit of a blessing because we had to step away,” says the group's frontman. Steele of the eight years between the new LP and the band's last record. “For 20 years we built this castle and it was time to kind of give up on the dream and let it be covered with reeds, to come back again and realize what we loved so much about it in the first place.”

“I think what brings us back is what Edgar Cayce said,” Littlemore adds, referring to the late American clairvoyant, “is that sound is the medicine of the future, and I think we're seeing that now, and I think that's what's happening always. united us, is to make things that would live in the hearts”.

This elevated thinking was applied to all areas of the album, including its title, with Littlemore saying that “everyone has their own face of Jesus, or Allah, or Buddha, or whoever that person is. And I think music can be that for you, and it certainly is that for us. And that's often the intention when we make music, to create something that can be a beacon of hope and a beacon of light and cheerfulness.”

To visually bring the album to life, the duo traveled to Thailand to shoot a series of characteristically cinematic, fantastical high definition videos, many of which were shot over the course of several days in 100 degree heat.

But the pair say the sweat was worth the effort for how the vivid, multi-layered clips — some of which feature cameos from Steele's son — expand the Empire of the Sun mythology “into a new dimension,” says Littlemore. “We've always been into something a little bigger than other bands. That's why we started from scratch… we looked at the landscape and saw shoegazing and wanted to see Bowie.”

During the conversation, the couple also talks Ask That God The track 'AEIOU', the first collaboration between the band and Littlemore's long-running project Pnau, alongside their upcoming tour, which includes a headlining show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles in November.

Watch the full interview above.