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Pnau "Soft Universe" album

- Release date : July 2011 -

Soft Universe is the fourth LP by electronic act Pnau, released on July 22, 2011. The album peaked at #13 on the Australian albums chart.

"Soft Universe" album tracks and lyrics

"Soft Universe" album reviews

Littlemore's work on Groove Armada's sinfully under-rated Black Light album (co-writing and a bunch of vocals) showed exactly what he did in Empire.

It hasn't gone unnoticed - Pnau are managed by Elton John's company and Littlemore is a Cirque du Soleil musical director and audio magician.

Now, happily, dance duo Pnau's fourth album, the first post Empire success, is the right album at the right time.

Soft Universe is embedded with a confidence Pnau (Littlemore and Peter Mayes) haven't been able to keep up over a whole record before. And there's no tracks that even hint at novelty. Rather, with something such as The Truth, there's genuine anthems-in-waiting.

Somehow The Truth wasn't a huge hit - that should be alleviated by new single Solid Ground.

It's the most Empire-like moment, even if Littlemore can't quite hit those sky-high notes Steele can. But if you want warm flushes of synth and melody, look no further.

Twist of Fate could have wound up on the next Empire record - Littlemore tries some kooky vocals but can't bring the crazy the way Steele has since, well, puberty.

Everybody is a surprisingly joyous break-up song ("I need everybody to understand what it feels like") where you feel like giving Littlemore a hug if your hands weren't involuntarily in the air.

The tormented Glimpse is TRON meets Joy Division, Epic Fail reintroduces whistling to pop and closer Waiting For You sees Pnau accurately channel Burt Bacharach. Because they can.

*** by Cameron Adams, The Herald Sun ***

Rarely a band openly admits to aiming for commercialism and marketability; thumbs up to Pnau for being honest. In their purposefully most accessible album to date, Soft Universe is full of electro-pop power hits with global appeal. Nick Littlemore has more fingers in different musical pies than is imaginable, including currently writing the score for Cirque de Soleil in Paris. (I still think Teenager, with Pip Brown, was his best collaboration.)

However, the most jaw-gaping thing about Pnau right now is that Elton John, yes - the Elton John! - is their mentor after personally seeking them out while he heard their tunes on his last Oz visit. So, it's no wonder that the album is glamorous, expansive and grandeur-soaked. For example, Solid Ground is a dance anthem turned pure pop track, grounded only by the masculine vocals.

Self-described as a 'more structured' release than their previous efforts, the tracks on Soft Universe have been intricately manipulated to attract maximum attention and appeal to the widest possible audience. Some may say that this is disappointing, given their independent label beginnings way back in 1999. But, if successful, we can look forward to seeing some Aussie music back on international radars à la Kylie and INXS.

*** Beat Magazine ***

PNAU have finally released their new album Soft Universe, after a whole lot of elusiveness, side projects and mystery – and it's quite different from their self-titled 2007 release, to say the least.

The main hype surrounding Soft Universe is that Sir Elton John has a large amount of involvement on the record after taking the duo under his wing, so to speak. John's influence is evident throughout the album, steering PNAU towards a more synth-pop sound. There is a lot less vocal distortion on Soft Universe - instead, a more natural style has been adopted for Nick Littlemore's distinctive vocals this time around.

The strongest tracks in my opinion are actually the two current singles - “The Truth” and “Solid Ground”. They are both catchy, summery, soon-to-be-festival-favourites, and are reminiscent of PNAU's earlier work (perhaps “Embrace”-esque). “Solid Ground” does sound a little like it belongs on an Empire of the Sun (Littlemore's side project with Luke Steele) album, but it's an excellent track all the same.

You wouldn't ever expect a band like PNAU to release a song called “Epic Fail”, but surprisingly the song isn't as awful as it's title – it's quite an uplifting track that could easily be a possible single off the album. I found “Something Special” to not be very special at all – actually, it was one of the weakest songs on the album due to its blatant unoriginality. It really doesn't feel like a PNAU song.

I think PNAU have definitely taken a bold step away from their previous 'Electronica' label and moved into more solid synthesised electro-pop. There's less distortion and less ambition on Soft Universe than on PNAU's other records. From being pioneers of Australian electronica they have slipped to following the herd of American and British electronica and it is a little disappointing. However, although it's not really unique or new, each track is extremely memorable, catchy and great to dance to. If it had been released by anyone else, it would easily be a fantastic album – but knowing what PNAU can do, I can't help feeling a little ripped off. Soft Universe will no doubt become this summer's soundtrack, but I hope that for the next album PNAU lift their game.

*** by Tanya Ali, The AU Review ***