Silence is traditionally golden, except when you have been waiting too long between drinks… and when drinks actually means a new single from PNAU, then silence can be unbearable. We can finally reveal what’s next from the duo of Peter Mayes and Nick Littlemore – Unite Us. We could have revealed it a little earlier, but we thought that we’d make you sweat it out a little bit first, but the remixes and videos for Unite Us are well and truly in, and are have hit the internet.

Having already primed combustion tanks of their interstellar ‘Soft Universe’ voyager, PNAU have broken orbit to deliver their next single – Unite Us. An anthemic re-entry into the musical stratosphere, Unite Us is the lovers sonnet of the electronic age – hitting the soul with emotionally charged vocals, deep arpeggiated synth lines and stadium readied synth stabs which scream the sadistic woes of stretched heartstrings.

Never before has heartbreak sounded this good.

PNAU have always caused a bit of fuss and fluster with every project they’re invovled with, and delivering their latest album Soft Universe was no different. “It’s the sound of now…” according to Rolling Stone, and we would tend to agree with them in this instance. Soft Universe is an amazing expression of emotive electronica, defining a point in space, time and music for the band. With the duo taking to the main-stage at Splendour In The Grass sooner than you can imagine, you’re running out of time to learn the lyrics, so grab your copy of Soft Universe from JB Hifi or iTunes today.

PNAU – Soft Universe by etcetcmusic

Why wasn’t this up on the internet earlier! The video for PNAU’s latest single ‘Solid Ground’ takes everything that is amazing about NYC, and compresses it into a nice little streamed video production that rames ‘Solid Ground’ perfectly. Album is out at the end of the month, and we’re already beaming about it. It’s definitely going to be huge.

Electronic powerhouse PNAU return with Solid Ground, the second single from their eagerly anticipated album Soft Universe – due to hit stores on July 22. It’s the kind of emotionally charged electronica that is expected from the band, rich with intricate musicality, catchy lyrics and infectious hooks, Solid Ground surges with energy and melodically rules the current electro-pop landscape. With the track hitting radio this week, and the duo’s album and East Coast + Splendour In The Grass tour in the coming weeks, all eyes (and ears) are definitely on PNAU.

PNAU – Solid Ground (Radio Edit) by etcetcmusic

Yes, we all know that PNAU are returning to Australia to play at Splendour In The Grass, but for those who are not lucky enough to get tickets – feel free to rejoice. In preparation of their fourth album ‘Soft Universe‘, Nick and Pete are heading down the East Coast of Australia on a their Soft Universe Tour! Albeit a brief love affair, this is one experience set to rival creation itself.

Tickets are on sale now through all usual outlets, so grab them while they’re still available.

If the national broadband network actually existed, than there is no doubt it would have crashed this week. With the hive of activity surrounding the Splendour In The Grass line-up announcement, we were all a bit hot under the collar when the news of PNAU’s appearance at Woodfordia was confirmed. With a second single looming, and their latest album ‘Soft Universe’ set to be released before the end of the year – now is the time of PNAU!

]]> http://www.etcetc.tv/pnau-are-heading-to-splendour/feed/ 0 http://www.etcetc.tv/aint-that-the-truth/ http://www.etcetc.tv/aint-that-the-truth/#comments Mon, 28 Feb 2011 02:15:40 +0000 admin http://www.etcetc.tv/?p=1782

Waiting and PNAU appear to be two things cohesively linked – with the band waiting until their national Big Day Out tour to release the first teasing single from their forthcoming album ‘The Truth‘. After weeks of holding tight, editing, cutting, pasting, and a plethora of other design and film buzz words, the official video for ‘The Truth’ has finally surfaced and made it’s way onto the internet.

So, without further adieu, may your ears and eyes feat on the audio-visual amazingness which is ‘The Truth’. Shot by L.A. outfit Skinny, the video is spectacular and one worthy of the internets bandwidth.

Very rarely has any sort of emerging band received the acclaim and privilege awarded to Pnau over the past years. It’s like they passed straight through the pages of the book on how things were meant to be done, and their ascent has been astounding.

Pnau’s success has been as deserved as it has been anomalous, and the band members themselves as curious as they are talented. Pete Mayes and Nick Littlemore, the Enfants Terrible of the Australian Music industry, have won the respect of their peers and the loyalty of their fans by consistently producing simple, intelligent hooks, fat sounds, and awesome imagery. Their long awaited third album PNAU is an admission of sorts; Music is bigger than any one person and connected to absolutely everything.

PNAU is a sagacious offering; the act has mastered the art of reminiscence and innovation, abducting current trends to shear the way forward with this positive and futuristic, hybrid beast of a recording. There’s a clarity and awareness in the sounds and songwriting throughout. It’s bare and celebratory and in the buoyant key of Hell-Yeah – if it had hands it would slap you on the ass. The spontaneous moments are void of flippancy and the heavy moments are uplifting. There is real knowledge at work here, real skill, no bluff, no laconic bravado or dark humours. Maturity and sophistication are two words that will be bandied around for this work, but honesty and acknowledgement seem closer to the mark for an album that is poised to become a landmark recording.

Their innate understanding of the entire package of artistic expression is what earned them Australia’s top music gong in 1999, an ARIA Award, in the dance category for their debut release Sambanova; an album that wasn’t even properly cleared but looked and sounded fantastic. It was a rebellious fluke from accidental shit-stirrers that was released in 4 different versions and confused the nuts off everyone. It suited the band to a T and kick starting their rock ’n’ droll lifestyle, touring with every major festival in Australia.

They backed-up Sambanova with Again, a sophomore release that shoved a dirty big told-you-so sock down the throats of the nay-sayers who adamantly believed both Pnau and electronic music were but a flash in the pan. Pnau were off on US and European tours, performing peak sets between Darren Emerson and Fatboy Slim one night, and playing to private audiences with Naomi Campbell and Ricky Bloody Martin the next. Not so much overwhelmed as chronically amused and soaking it all in, filing everything away, Pnau came to the attention of infamous producers, songwriters and performers, all buying into the intrigue of two Aussie musos patently NOT vying to be famous. It wasn’t long till they gravitated toward their own kind and submerged themselves deeply in the next phase of their artistic evolution. From LA to Sweden to the UK to Redfern, Pnau the band became a somewhat amorphous entity, existing in spirit if not completely in body. The gruelling schedule of being in a band took a seat; not a back seat, just a seat in the middle of the room. Kind of near the front, but to the left a bit.

That was then. Quite obviously, this is now… (and please for the love of all that’s holy, no more rhyming puns).

With the release of the self-titled album 3, the very first local release from new label etcetc, you’d be forgiven for thinking Pnau are finally fulfilling the epic destiny that we’ve all been quietly waiting for them to realise. All the skilled bits and honed pieces seem to be coming together and we suspect they’re starting to take their talent seriously. Insane, we know! But it’s like they don’t consider ‘ambition’ to be a dirty word anymore.

If it takes a village to raise a child then it’s understandable that they’ve utilized their artistic community to raise this album in the Fing Fang Fong studios. On PNAU not only will you hear Nick’s vocal talents, you’ll also hear their work with Luke Steele from The Sleepy Jackson – a match made in heaven, Pip Brown from Ladyhawke, Nik Yannikas from Lost Valentinos, and Michael DeFrancesco from Van She. Fabian ‘Mr Oizo’ Feadz of Ed Banger fame worked closely with Pnau on the first single release Wild Strawberries, and across it all Nick’s elder brothers Sam (Gwen Stefani, Black Eyed Peas, Tonite Only) has been in control of the mix, while James has exerted his seasoned creative direction over the entire project.

PNAU is a timeless and positive album. If Sambanova was an ass-grab, and Again was a casual fling, then PNAU is a love affair that will endure. This is dance floor Pnau as you’ve ever known them, only better. Much, much, better.