As a sense of normalcy begins to creep back with the announcement of live concerts and events, the Sydney Opera House has dug deep into the archives, announcing a livestream of a 2013 Empire of the Sun performance this weekend.
Announced as part of the iconic venue’s Digital Season, the archival performance was recorded back in May of 2013 for the Opera House’s Vivid LIVE lineup, and captures the group just two weeks prior to the release of their second album, Ice on the Dune. Peaking at number three on the ARIA chart, and reaching the top 20 in the US, the record boasted singles like “Alive”, which rounds out the group’s 2013 set.
“Visionary music pioneers Empire of the Sun created a vision that almost came from an alternative reality at Vivid LIVE 2013,” the Opera House explain in a statement on their website.
“In this special career spanning performance with stunning visuals the 8-time ARIA award winners perform their hits including ‘Walking on a Dream’, ‘We Are the People’, ‘Alive’ and many more. Get ready to be transported into a new adventure within a singular, psychedelic universe.”
To date, Empire of the Sun’s last studio effort arrived back in 2016, when Two Vines was released. Despite peaking at number seven on the ARIA chart, the record failed to boast any commercially successful singles.
Since then, Luke Steele has been busy with Silverchair’s Daniel Johns as a member of DREAMS, while Nick Littlemore has been focusing his efforts onto records with Pnau and Vlossom.
In April, Littlemore told The Green Room Podcast with Neil Griffiths that Empire of the Sun had been working on a new record, having made some “really interesting recordings” in Japan while continuing their efforts in Los Angeles.
“We’ve got some really good music,” Littlemore explained. “We’ll just see, but it’s a strange time.”
