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Ask That God

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Ask That God
Two men in egg-shaped air bubbles on a blue tiled floor on either side of a tree; to the left is a flipped desert scene with rock formations in it.
Studio album by
Empire of the Sun
Released26 July 2024 (2024-07-26)
Length43:24
Label
Producer
Empire of the Sun studio album chronology
Two Vines
(2016) 		Ask That God
(2024)
Singles from Ask That God
  1. "Changes"
    Released: 4 April 2024
  2. "Music on the Radio"
    Released: 17 May 2024
  3. "Cherry Blossom"
    Released: 21 June 2024[1]
  4. "The Feeling You Get"
    Released: 26 July 2024[2]

Ask That God is the fourth studio album by Australian electronic music duo Empire of the Sun, released on 26 July 2024 through EMI Music Australia and Capitol Records. It is their first studio album since 2016's Two Vines. The album was preceded by the singles "Changes", "Music on the Radio", and "Cherry Blossom", and also includes their 2023 collaboration with Nick Littlemore's project Pnau, "AEIOU".[3]

The duo will promote the album with a four-date Australian tour in October and November 2024.[4]

At the 2024 ARIA Music Awards, Luke Steele, Nick Littlemore and Peter Mayes were nominated for Best Engineered Release and Best Produced Release.[5]

Background

[edit]

Littlemore stated that the duo were "blessed with" the album and that it "represents the greatest shift in consciousness our world has ever seen and that's reflected in the music".[6] Luke Steele likened the second single "Music on the Radio" to "a teenager rebelling against his imaginary emotions".[7] Littlemore said "There might have been as many as 1,200 songs that we wrote in that time to get to the 12 we have here."[4]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic82/100[8]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]
Clash7/10[10]
MusicOMH[11]
The Observer[12]
Record Collector[13]

Ask That God received a score of 82 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on five critics' reviews, which the website categorised as "universal acclaim".[8] Record Collector stated that "while their familiar stargazing disco again dominates, the songwriting is at its sharpest as fresh influences add bite".[13] Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic wrote that it "feels like both a return to form and a retrospective journey through their sonic evolution" and a "return to the blissful, body-moving spirit of Empire of the Sun's first two classics".[9]

Damien Morris of The Observer said that "like their three previous projects, this one contains at least two elite tunes ('Changes', 'Cherry Blossom') interspersed with effervescent yet evanescent second-tier tracks ('Revolve', 'Music on the Radio', 'Ask That God') and smoothly produced non-bangers (everything else)".[12] Ben Hogwood of MusicOMH remarked that Littlemore and Steele "find their familiar chemistry in providing escapism in sun kissed pop to sing and dance to".[11] Lily Blakeney-Edwards of Clash called it "a journey in every sense providing enough density and style changes to keep listeners intrigued to the very end".[10]

Track listing

[edit]
Ask That God track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Changes"
3:38
2."Cherry Blossom"
  • Steele
  • N. Littlemore
  • Al Fakir
  • Pontare
  • Caroline Cederlöf
  • Max Grahn
  • Empire of the Sun
  • Fat Max Gsus
  • Vargas & Lagola
  • Mayes[a]
3:27
3."Music on the Radio"
  • Empire of the Sun
  • Mayes
2:56
4."The Feeling You Get"
  • Steele
  • N. Littlemore
  • Carl Nordström
  • Empire of the Sun
  • Nordström
  • Mayes[a]
4:16
5."AEIOU" (with Pnau)
Pnau3:14
6."Television"
  • Steele
  • N. Littlemore
  • Al Fakir
  • Pierre Leroux
  • Pontare
  • Empire of the Sun
  • Mayes
  • Vargas & Lagola
3:14
7."Happy Like You"
  • Empire of the Sun
  • Mayes
2:59
8."Revolve"
  • Empire of the Sun
  • Mayes
3:14
9."Wild World"
  • Steele
  • N. Littlemore
Empire of the Sun3:46
10."Ask That God"
  • Steele
  • N. Littlemore
  • Empire of the Sun
  • Mayes
3:02
11."Rhapsodize"
  • Steele
  • N. Littlemore
Empire of the Sun6:17
12."Friends I Know"
  • Steele
  • N. Littlemore
Empire of the Sun3:21
Total length:43:24

Note

  • ^[a] signifies an additional producer

Personnel

[edit]

Empire of the Sun

Additional contributors

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for Ask That God
Chart (2024) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[14] 10
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[15] 113
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[16] 90
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[17] 58
Scottish Albums (OCC)[18] 19
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 17
US Top Album Sales (Billboard)[20] 26
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[21] 4

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Join Empire of the Sun for a Surreal Odyssey on New Single 'Cherry Blossom'". Rolling Stone Australia. 21 June 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  2. ^ "Friday is going to be an incredible day! Our new single The Feeling You Get and our album come out". 25 July 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2024 – via YouTube.
  3. ^ Strauss, Matthew (17 May 2024). "Empire of the Sun Coming Back With New Album, Share Video for New Song: Watch". Pitchfork. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Why Are Empire Of The Sun Back? Because It's 'Good For Humanity'". The Music. 25 July 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  5. ^ "ARIA Awards 2024 nominations — everything you need to know". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 26 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  6. ^ Lochrie, Conor (17 May 2024). "(We're) Walking on a Dream: Empire of the Sun Announce Fourth Album Ask That God". Rolling Stone Australia. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  7. ^ Hussain, Shahzaib (17 May 2024). "Empire of the Sun Announce New Album Ask That God". Clash. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Ask That God by Empire of the Sun Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  9. ^ a b Yeung, Neil Z. "Ask That God – Empire of the Sun". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  10. ^ a b Blakeney-Edwards, Lily (26 July 2024). "Empire of the Sun – Ask That God | Reviews". Clash. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  11. ^ a b Hogwood, Ben (26 July 2024). "Empire of the Sun – Ask That God | Album Reviews". MusicOMH. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  12. ^ a b Morris, Damien (26 July 2024). "Empire of the Sun: Ask That God review – the magic's still there". The Observer. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  13. ^ a b "Empire of the Sun – Ask That God". Record Collector. August 2024. p. 103.
  14. ^ "ARIA Top 50 Albums Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. 5 August 2024. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  15. ^ "Ultratop.be – Empire of the Sun – Ask That God" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
  16. ^ "Ultratop.be – Empire of the Sun – Ask That God" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
  17. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Empire of the Sun – Ask That God" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  18. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  19. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Empire of the Sun – Ask That God". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
  20. ^ "Empire of the Sun Chart History (Top Album Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  21. ^ "Empire of the Sun Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
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