PNAU - the rise to fame of Australia's hottest duo

Eccentric, strung-out, sun-drenched electro kings from down-under. They’re best friends with Ladyhawke, protégés to Elton John, and have worked with more artists than you could fit in an aircraft hangar. But you’ve not heard of them, have you…?

Over the last decade, the PNAU boys have not been easy to ignore in their native Australia; winning themselves an ARIA award for their debut album Sambanova, achieving universal acclaim for their self-titled 2008 release, multiple chart-topping singles and near-world domination with their breakthrough side-project Empire of the Sun. Formed in Sydney by Nick Littlemore (vocals, samples) and Peter Mayes (guitar, samples), the pair began writing ‘doof-doof’ acid-jazz with minimal resources, starving themselves at lunchtimes to cover equipment costs. Their debut - wholly self-financed and recorded ‘in the bedroom’ – unexpectedly snowballed, chalking up nothing less than an ARIA award for ‘Best Dance Release’ and made Mayes and Littlemore critics’ darlings; Sambanova’s seamless blend of acid-house, electro and sunkissed Mediterranean grooves saw the band ascend skyward into a land they could truly call their own. Our heroes were set to go astral and nothing could stop them…until disaster struck: just a week after release, the record was pulled from the shelves following a lawsuit citing illegally-used samples. But before you shake your head and turn over, the sheer naiveté of our boys will surely win you round – in a 2003 interview with Australian broadsheet The Age, Mayes confessed that they had no clear understanding of sample clearances - bless their little cottons!
While the star began to shine onstage, in the studio the band struggled to weld songs together in a coherent manner. 2003’s Again was a commercial flop and disappointed both critics and the band’s hard-won fanbase. Despite containing some interesting material – ‘Super Giants’ being the most accessible, containing a Peter Mayes guitar riff cooler than a whiskey chaser and some sensual, incidental female vocals – the album was essentially a sketchbook of unfinished experiments and ideas. Nick Littlemore was particularly vocal surrounding the albums failure: "It’s the worst record I’ve ever written". With that, the pair parted ways, working with internationally recognised artists including Robbie Williams, Groove Armada and Lost Valentinos.
Jolted back into life in 2007 by popular demand and the realisation that this is what they do, the duo wrote prolifically and began laying the foundations for their comeback. One backing track, titled ‘With You Forever’ was sent to long-time friend and collaborator Luke Steele (Sleepy Jackson/Empire of the Sun). Singing the melody to Littlemore down the telephone from his home in Perth, Steele’s efforts left the boys dumbfounded. They immediately scrapped all other tracks to focus on a more vocally-centred album. Taking the mic himself, Littlemore got out his phonebook and called upon his friends to help knock the record into shape. Surfacing in January, the self-titled album broke the band back into the Australian mainstream with Nick, Peter and the band coming out all-guns-blazing on the world-conquering WE ARE BACK tour. Singles spiralled into the charts from all directions; ‘With You Forever’, the thudding, loony-bin boogie of ‘Wild Strawberries’ and the epic ‘Embrace’ - the centrepiece of the band’s live set, featuring a soaring vocal from one Pip Brown a.k.a. Ladyhawke. Their technicolour dreamscape sold well, a critical smash that caught the attention of none other than Elton John, declaring it to be "the greatest record I’d heard in ten years".
For Nick and Peter, the world was their oyster. Empire of the Sun took home four ARIA awards in 2009, and Nick indulged a lifelong ambition of becoming Musical Director for Cirque du Soleil. So we come full circle, and with the imminent release of PNAU’s fourth album Soft Universe in the summer the future looks bright. Working closely with Elton, this could well be their by-line to international superstardom – new single ‘The Truth’ is a telling sampler of their new direction; listen for yourself and see what the fuss is all about.