Empire Of The Sun - Alive

It's impossible to fairly rate this without inevitably having my views influenced by my excitement (or lack thereof) for new Empire of the Sun material. I will try my best.

In 2008, Empire of the Sun burst onto the scene as a side project between members of The Sleepy Jackson & Pnau. Uncharacteristic of many side projects, Empire of the Sun expanded upon its components and had a sound that was fresh and exciting. Lock in a couple killer singles and bam, this side project turned out to be bigger than the members' main projects.

Here comes the problem. It's been nearly 5 years since that first album, and in that time, their brand of indie synth pop has become a trend which became passé quite a while ago in my view. Now Empire of the Sun are back, but still riding on that same sound which originally made them stand out, but now just makes them part of the crowd. Is it any better than the next Gypsy and the Cat, Strange Talk, Panama or Gold Fields song? Not really, but having built up a bigger profile, I'm not surprised that they're able to outperform their contemporaries in the charts. Personally I like the melody of the repeated 'Alive''s, but the rest just passes right through me as filler.

But to reiterate, my review is likely not unbiased and therefore a bit rubbish.