There’s been a few nostalgia parties going down in major cities around Australia lately. For whatever reason, we’re all feeling really sentimental about life circa 2006-2008. After all, life was so much simpler back then.
But music fans in the US are currently reliving something we Australians all experienced eight years ago – they’re in love with local electronic duo Empire of the Sun’s dreamy debut single, ‘Walking on a Dream’.
The band — comprised of former The Sleepy Jackson frontman Luke Steele and Pnau’s Nick Littlemore — recently appeared on Ellen to promote the song, which it should be noted came out in 2008, the lead single from the band’s debut of the same name.
And no, the single was not only just released for the American market recently. Since ‘Walking on a Dream’ came out (in both Australia and the US), Steele and Littlemore have released a sophomore album and several more singles.
So what are Empire of the Sun doing ‘promoting’ an eight-year-old song? Let’s take a ride. Specifically, let’s take a ride in a Honda Civic. A popular commercial for the vehicle that recently debuted in the US featured, you guessed it, ‘Walking on a Dream’.
Whilst ‘Walking on a Dream’, as well as ‘We Are The People’, another single from the band’s debut, and ‘Alive’, taken from the band’s sophomore effort, Ice on the Dune, were all top 25 hits here at home, they never cracked the mainstream charts in the States.
As SPIN reports, Honda’s latest ad promoting the Civic, entitled ‘The Dreamer’, is everywhere right now, and it’s led to a renewed interest in the ad’s soundtrack, which US television viewers have been Shazaming like there’s no tomorrow.
What’s more, the interest translated into sales for the Aussie duo. Back in January, SPIN reported that the song had moved almost 30,000 units in a week, sending it to No. 30 on the Digital Songs chart and No. 82 on the Hot 100.
As Billboard reported last month, ‘Walking on a Dream’ led the February Billboard + Clio Music’s Top Commercials chart after it nabbed 117,000 Shazam tags, which subsequently translated into 45,000 digital downloads in February, and 6.1 million domestic streams.
This followed impressive January numbers, which included 297,000 tags, 116,000 digital downloads, and 7.6 million streams. ‘Walking on a Dream’ ultimately peaked at No. 65 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 6 on Hot Rock Songs, No. 10 on Alternative Songs, and No. 27 on the Adult Top 40.
“I’ve been getting phone calls, mums at my kids’ schools [talking about it],” Steele told SPIN. “And then, [the label], they’re getting excited when Shazam is like, ‘[It’s the] number-five song…’ It’s amazing how many people haven’t heard that song, you know.”
“We had another song, ‘We Are the People,’ that was used in a Vodafone ad in Germany, and it turned up a number one in Germany,” he continued. “You can never underestimate the power of pop culture.”
The surge in popularity could not have come at a better time for the band, who are preparing to release their follow-up to Ice on the Dune, which was released back in 2013.
“The third record, we’ve been working on for about two years,” Steele said. “The timing is, like, immaculate. We’re going to the studio next week to have a big band listening session… it’s pretty exciting.”
“I think now that this has happened, it’s going to be probably, definitely September,” Steele added. “The company’s gonna be like… ‘Guitars down, headphones off.’”
