Commercial Sounds: Empire Of The Sun And Absolut Partner Up For Some Vodka-Fueled Madness

In Commercial Sounds, we take an unavoidable TV ad soundtracked by a song and tell you all about the artist behind the music. Have a commercial song you want to know more about? Ask us.

The song: “Welcome to My Life,” by Empire of the Sun.

You can hear new music now in so many crazy ways (conference call, anyone?), having an artist debut a new song through good ol’ fashioned capitalist means actually seems quaint and traditionalist. That’s what Empire of the Sun have done in partnering up with Absolut to exclusively premier their new single, “Welcome to My Life.”

Last year, Absolut threw events in four far-flung cities across the world. Their new campaign, “Absolut Nights,” cuts up footage from those four events, with Empire’s white-sand dance stutter as the soundtrack. A well-paid copywriter — oops, I mean the group — explained the partnership to Billboard:

“Our music is about more than just being memorable. We aim to make music that transcends and takes you to another dimension, creating an experience beyond the earth and out of the ordinary that sticks with you long after the night is over, much like ‘Absolut Nights.'”

Where you can find it: The spot will debut Monday on late-night TV, and it’ll continue to drive you insane all summer, including in some fashion surrounding the premieres of the Entourage and Magic Mike 2 movies. You can also be sure to hear the song bumping out the windows of every 2015 Scion TC headed to the Jersey Shore. Oh, and it’ll appear on Empire’s upcoming third album, Every Ocean Tells a Story.

Where else have you heard Empire of the Sun? You’ve almost assuredly heard their ubiquitous hit “Alive” somewhere, selling you something. One of their other hits, “We Are the People,” has also been used a few times in popular culture, including in Hall Pass.

Really, Empire of the Sun is one of those groups that makes songs everyone knows, even though no one has heard of the group itself.

What do Empire of the Sun sound like? Pure, mindless, anthemic fun. They make precisely the type of song that is perfect for, well, vodka commercials. That may sound like a knock, but it’s not. Despite not really being into pure four-on-the-floor EDM (I prefer my electronic music a little mellower), I genuinely enjoy this group a lot. (It should be noted that the band does occasionally chill out, and when they do, it’s really quite incredible.)

Empire of the Sun is also a ready-made festival killer; their bombast and celebratory sound are tailor made for communal experiences in the summer, and their live show is genuinely insane, featuring real-time video game backdrops, anime-superhero-style costumes and laser light displays. I highly recommend checking them out in concert before you judge them.

What else can I hear? Check out their first two albums, 2008’s Walking on a Dream and 2013’s Ice on the Dune.

 

×