At some point in the future, folks will look back upon 2013 as the “year of the comeback.” A number of popular musicians have already returned from hiatus and it’s only March. We can now add Empire of the Sun to that extensive list as they’ve just announced a new LP, Ice on the Dune, to be released this June via EMI. This welcomed news was accompanied by the grand, almost three-minute album trailer above.
The longtime collaborative duo of Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore have been rather quiet since their award-winning debut release, Walking on a Dream, in 2008. As Pitchfork points out, the group hasn’t released tour dates yet, but they are scheduled to headline this year’s Wilderness Festival. They also shared the text below from a press release that all but blatantly hints at the new album’s concept.
‘Once, the world was pure. It was the Emperor and the Prophet who kept it thus. Each day, they charted the sun’s course across the sky, guided rivers down from mountain peaks, brought rains to quench raging fires.
With the aid of their four priests, who possessed spirits of wild animals, they travelled the world tirelessly, maintaining nature’s delicate balance, allowing all things to grow and flourish — always with the aid of the sacred jewel held atop the Emperor’s crown…
But one night, as the Emperor slumbered, recovering from his labours, true darkness appeared. The King of Shadows, ever the bitter foe of the Empire, and all it had achieved, crept into their temple. Craving the Emperor’s power, he stole the jewel from his crown– and in an instant the world was changed.
Robbed of the bulk of his power, the Emperor and the Prophet watched helplessly as their temple was torn asunder, and their priests cast far out into the world.
But even in that moment, when all appeared lost, there was one thing that the King of Shadows black heart simply could not have imagined… The Emperor and the Prophet have never abandoned hope.’
