After a five-month radio silence, Empire of the Sun's Nick Littlemore has resurfaced, explaining he has been too busy working with Elton John and Cirque du Soleil to ring bandmate Luke Steele.
Last week, Steele told Australia's ABC news that he hadn't seen Littlemore since April. "I really don't know [if he's still in the band]," he said. "He's just left me with the baby."
But Littlemore has now reappeared, explaining that he has been working with Pnau, the dance act he formed before joining Empire of the Sun. And they have had some unlikely help. "We're making a studio album with Elton John co-writing some tracks," Littlemore told NME. "We met Elton in Australia and his manager has now become our manager."
While Steele has been sitting by his phone, Littlemore has been gallivanting around the world, "working with Cirque du Soleil in Montreal and writing and recording the next Pnau album in London, Atlanta and New York". As for why he went AWOL, Littlemore shrugs. "I was recording in Atlanta and went swimming with my phone in my pocket. I've never managed to replace it."
Not that Steele has been idle. Empire of the Sun are playing live gigs – minus Littlemore – in Australia, and Steele has almost finished the next Sleepy Jackson album. Nevertheless, he would probably appreciate a phonecall from his (former?) bandmate. Perhaps Littlemore can try to squeeze it in between Jay-Z cameos.