Empire of the Sun are not a band eager to shake off those Fleetwood Mac comparisons: their third album even features Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham on its closing track, To Her Door. Neither his evocative guitar work, nor the contribution of various Bowie collaborators and Wendy Melvoin from Prince’s Revolution band, stand out awkwardly – rather, they’re all subsumed into Empire of the Sun’s slick, synth-heavy sound. Thus the ecological concept behind the album – Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore were apparently inspired by “a modern city overtaken by jungle, almost like mother nature taking back the planet” – doesn’t really assert itself among the dreamy backdrops. But it also means we get some superbly written pop/indie hybrids, of which the pick are Way to Go and First Crush, both of which evoke coastal drives, each sumptuous chorus sliding into place like the shifting of gears in a luxury car.
