Monday, May 25, 2009

EMPIRE OF THE SUN – WE ARE THE PEOPLE (VIRGIN RECORDS)


EMPIRE OF THE SUN – WE ARE THE PEOPLE (VIRGIN RECORDS)

Delivered on banana yellow vinyl, upon the first few listens of this song on FM radio it immediately struck me as being the kind of record that stops traffic. It certainly pulled me away from the reality of what I was doing at the time at work.

It is the chorus that slays the listener by design. Filled with words to crush a person’s heart in a really rare gesture of needing to know, the voice of the song reeks of desperation. This has been one of those rare songs that has found me rewinding and listening to it immediately again afterwards and repeating this process for six or seven turns. It has also seen me looking/grabbing for the lyrics eager and desperate to work out a specific interpretation, searching for the source of the meaning of the apparent pain. This is a song it appears touches a nerve and serves solidly to empathise with and spread/share the sadness.

It is tough to gauge just what really Empire Of The Sun are about. The sound is very Australian and retro eighties as the artwork once more pays a major nod to retro fantasy art from the eighties appealing those with disposable income who were fans of Labyrinth, Legend and the Neverending Story. This really is a package that should not be liked.

I wonder if JG Ballard would approve of such usage of his title? I can’t imagine Christian Bale does.

Escapism seldom tastes so bright and shiny.

Thesaurus moment: glossy.

Empire Of The Sun
Virgin Records

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