Steele had previously worked with Pnau on "With You Forever," a track from the band's 2007 self-titled third album, and the pair enjoyed collaborating so much that they started their own project, drawing inspiration from the likes of Phoenix and Daft Punk. In fall 2008, Empire of the Sun released their debut album, Walking on a Dream, which the musicians described as "a spiritual road movie." Featuring songs co-written by Pnau's other half, Peter Mayes, the album went platinum in Australia and the title track became a hit single across the globe.

After time spent touring, and a period when Littlemore went AWOL to write music for Cirque du Soleil, the duo regrouped in the studio to work on their second album. The unguardedly disco pop Ice on the Dune was released in early summer of 2013, after which the band toured the world. In late 2014, two new songs, "Tonight" and "Wandering Star," appeared on the soundtrack to the movie Dumb and Dumber To. They spent a large chunk of the next year writing and recording their third album in Los Angeles and Hawaii, welcoming guests like Lindsey Buckingham, members of David Bowie's band from the Blackstar sessions, and Wendy Malvoin from Prince & the Revolution. Before the album was released, their 2008 song "Walking on a Dream" was featured in a car commercial, then subsequently ended up reaching the top of the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. Two Vines was issued in October of 2016. ~ Heather Phares