Iāll admit, I was a little worried when I first heard āAliveā, the lead single off of Empire Of The Sunās sophomore album, Ice On The Dune. While the video is shiny and mystical (as Iām sure it would be), the song itself doesnāt even come close to the magic that the Australian electropop duo first reached on their breakout hits āWalking On A Dream" and "We Are The Peopleā. Luckily, after digging through the full album, I found that Luke Steele and Nick Littlemoreās second effort wasnāt completely without merit. The back-loaded second half includes some great moments in āCelebrateā, āSurround Soundā, and my favorite of the bunch, āAwakeningā. It kicks off with a heartbeat thump paired with a squeaky synth metronome before launching into a chorus that fills the air with Lukeās falsetto and a massive, burpy, electro reverberation. The songās driving force never lets up and while they probably wont be converting many new followers with the first half ofĀ Ice On The Dune, those already on board with the empire can rest a little easier knowing that our dear leaders arenāt merely a one (or two) hit wonder.