26th
I guess I can see why Empire of the Sun are often described as “Australian weird pop duo”, but it strikes me as being lazy, uninspired journalism to fall back on such a phrase. I remember seeing their video for Walking on a Dream a few months ago, alongside Sarah Blasko’s All I Want and another Australian group’s latest video (it’s bugging me that I can’t remember what it was) and thinking, “Fantastic! Australia’s creative future is safe.”
The video clips were unique, had a strong vision, were put together in an incredibly polished way (which is not always the case as Oz music vid budgets aren’t often impressive), employed imaginative visual and narrative themes (Hungarian gypsy, anyone?) and were captivating to watch. It got me so excited that there was a section of the Australian music community who were doing their own thing and, more to the point, were doing it well and were being lauded for it.
The tall poppy syndrome has felled many acts but these guys have done such a great job at exploring their own creativity that it seems they’ve managed to escape the axe - and that makes me so very, very glad. I’ve no doubt that not only will they continue to do so, but they’re highly likely to influence the next crop of bands and artists to follow, giving them the courage to push boundaries and be bold in their art.
When this attitude appears more regularly I hope we will no longer read the word “weird” to describe Empire of the Sun, but rather “bold” or even “genius”. I’d be happy with that.
