Coordinates | 29°57′53″N90°4′14″N |
---|---|
Name | Pnau |
Background | group_or_band |
Origin | Sydney, Australia |
Genre | Electronic dance music |
Years active | 1999–present |
Label | Sony Music |
Associated acts | Empire of the SunTeenagerLadyhawke |
Website | Official website |
Current members | Nick LittlemorePeter Mayes |
In 1999, Pnau released their debut album Sambanova under the independent label Peking Duck. It was recorded in a bedroom studio and they only expected to sell a few thousand copies. The album turned out to be a surprise success when it won Best Dance Release at the ARIA Music Awards. A week later, however, the album was pulled from record stores for using uncleared samples. In a 2003 interview with The Age, Mayes recalled that they had no understanding of sample clearances due to their naïveté in the music business. Mayes claimed that the album's recall did seriously affect their commercial sales.
In subsequent years Pnau went on to make many live appearances at music festivals like Big Day Out in 2001 and Homebake in 2002. During this time, they garnered a reputation for their lively performances. Amidst this era, Pnau released their second album, Again in 2003. The album was considered to be a failure and a disappointment among fans and critics alike. Littlemore was later quoted as Again being "the worst record I’ve ever done". Despite the unfavorable album response, several tracks received considerable acclaim, the most noteworthy being We Love The Fresh Kills which was a significantly popular single for the duo at the time. However, because of Again's lackluster success the pair parted ways for some time to work with other artist's such as Robbie Williams, Van She, and Lost Valentinos.
When the two reunited in 2007 they wrote over two-hundred songs together and started to lay down an entire album. They sent a work-in-progress track to long-time friend and collaborator Luke Steele, who sent back the track with his own vocals. After receiving the track Littlemore and Mayes decided to scrap everything they had laid down to focus on a more vocally centered album. The track became known as With You Forever and the finalized album was released under the self-titled name Pnau. The album not only featured vocal work from Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore himself, but also had many guest appearances such as Ladyhawke, Nik Yannika from Lost Valentinos and Michael DeFrancesco from Van She. The album was released to high critical acclaim and gained unexpected favorable attention from Elton John, declaring it to be the greatest record he'd heard in ten years.
Inspired by their track "With You Forever", Pnau began work on a collaboration with Luke Steele. Originally titled Steelemore, Empire of the Sun made its debut on October 4, 2008 with Walking on a Dream. Nick Littlemore and Luke Steele took the roles of bandmates, while Peter Mayes assumed the role of producer. Some critics where quick to note that the band sounded more like a work of Pnau than Luke Steele's band The Sleepy Jackson. Empire of the Sun has achieved international success having been certified 2x platinum in Australia and gold in the United Kingdom, as well as wining eleven ARIA awards. Pnau makes it clear on their myspace numerous times that not only is Empire of the Sun a side project of theirs, but that they are also the producers.
Regarding Empire of the Sun, in early 2009 news began appearing that Nick Littlemore had disappeared. The reality had been that Nick Littlemore had left Empire of the Sun to begin work on the fourth Pnau album along with Elton John.
In an interview with The Music Network, Nick stated that Pnau's next album, entitled Soft Universe, is coming out very soon and described it as a very "emotional" album, after the recent break up with his girlfriend. Littlemore sings all the vocals on the album and has co-written tracks with Elton John, fellow Aussie artist Martin Craft and producer Mark Saunders. A preview of the first single "The Truth" was posted online on December 15.
Breakbot's remix of Pnau's song "Baby" was used in the 2010 racing video game Gran Turismo 5.
For the last two years, Littlemore has been working as the music director for a new Cirque du Soleil show, Zarkana, due to debut in New York in July 2011.
Another theory on the pronunciation, according to one interview with the pair, is "pah-nyeow". The group has on other occasions explained that the name "rhymes with meow".
Category:ARIA Award winners Category:Australian electronic music groups Category:Electronic music duos Category:New South Wales musical groups
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