Ice on the Dune

Ice on the Dune
Studio album by
Empire of the Sun
Released14 June 2013 (2013-06-14)
RecordedNovember 2011 – 2013[1]
Studio
Genre
Length42:52
LabelCapitol
Producer
Empire of the Sun chronology
Walking on a Dream
(2008) 		Ice on the Dune
(2013) 		Two Vines
(2016)
Singles from Ice on the Dune
  1. "Alive"
    Released: 15 April 2013
  2. "DNA"
    Released: 5 September 2013
  3. "Celebrate"
    Released: 14 February 2014

Ice on the Dune is the second studio album by Australian electronic music duo Empire of the Sun, released on 14 June 2013 by Capitol Records. The album was met with generally positive reviews from music critics, with many commenting on the progression of the group's sound from their debut album.

A trailer for the album debuted on 11 March 2013; it was produced by Kelvin Optical, a production division of Bad Robot, and was directed by J. D. Dillard. Along with this, the band released a fictional story related to the album which described a world looked over by an "Emperor" and a "Prophet".[5]

The lead single "Alive" premiered on 15 April 2013, and the album became available to pre-order on iTunes the same day.[6] The music video for the song, filmed in Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah,[7] was directed by Charles Scott and Alex Theurer and also produced by Kelvin Optical.[8] Both "DNA" and "Celebrate" were serviced as follow-up singles and were also released as official remix singles on iTunes.

To promote the album, the duo played a series of US festival dates, and without Nick Littlemore, Luke Steele returned to Australia on 30 May to perform at the Sydney Opera House for Vivid Sydney.[9] The duo performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on 18 June, marking their first television appearance in the US.[8] The duo also performed at the Australian Splendour in the Grass festival in late July.[10]

The album's cover art, designed by Aaron Hayward and David Homer from Sydney studio Debaser, won an Artisan Award prior to the ARIA Music Awards of 2013, held on 1 December.[11] In addition, the album was nominated for Best Pop Release, Engineer of the Year (Peter Mayes) and Producer of the Year (Steele, Littlemore, Mayes and Jonathan Sloan). Empire of the Sun were also nominated for Best Group for the album, but did not win.

  1. ^ Baggs, Michael (12 March 2013). "Exclusive: Empire of the Sun discuss second album, Ice on the Dune". Gigwise. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Independent was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference PopMatters was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Hampp, Andrew (20 May 2013). "Empire of the Sun Play Electric Daisy New York, Talk New Album 'Ice on the Dune'". Billboard. Retrieved 24 April 2016. ...Dune's 12 tracks are even brisker in tempo and more uplifting in spirit than their predecessors, blending Eurodance, glam rock...
  5. ^ Cashmere, Paul (12 March 2013). "Empire of the Sun Return With Ice on the Dune". Noise11. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  6. ^ "'ALIVE' has arrived! Pre-order 'Ice on the Dune'..." empireofthesun.com. 15 April 2013. Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  7. ^ Duncan, Alasdair. "Empire of the Sun". Beat Magazine. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  8. ^ a b "Empire of the Sun premieres video for "Alive," first single from Ice on the Dune, on Vevo". Astralwerks. 29 April 2013. Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  9. ^ "Vivid Live – Vivid Sydney 2013 @ Sydney Opera House". Live Guide. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  10. ^ "Splendour in the Grass 2013 – North Byron Parklands". Time Out Sydney. Archived from the original on 3 June 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  11. ^ "ARIA Noms + Fine Arts & Artisan Winners". ARIA Music Awards. 14 October 2013. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013.