Two Vines

Two Vines is the third studio album by Australian electronic music duo Empire of the Sun. It was released on 28 October 2016 by Virgin EMI Records. The album features guest appearances from Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham, Wendy Melvoin, Henry Hey, and Tim Lefebvre.

Two Vines
Studio album by Empire of the Sun
Released	28 October 2016 (2016-10-28)
Recorded	2015–2016
Studio	Studio 161, Henson Studios, Woody Jackson Studios (Los Angeles) Island Sound (Hawaii)
Length	41:01
Label	Virgin EMI
Producer	Empire of the Sun Peter Mayes Donnie Sloan
Empire of the Sun chronology
Ice on the Dune (2013) Two Vines (2016) Ask That God (2024)
Singles from Two Vines
"High and Low" Released: 24 August 2016 "To Her Door" Released: 30 September 2016 "Way to Go" Released: 21 October 2016

Background

The duo started writing their third studio album after contributing music to the 2014 film Dumb and Dumber To.^[1] The album was recorded in Hawaii and Los Angeles, and it was co-produced by Empire of the Sun and Peter Mayes alongside regular collaborator Jonathan Sloan.^[2] In November 2015, lead singer Luke Steele noted that the album was "75 percent there".^[1]

On 22 August 2016, it was announced that the album was titled Two Vines and would be released on 28 October. It features contributions from Fleetwood Mac singer-guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, Wendy Melvoin (from Prince's The Revolution band), and David Bowie collaborators Henry Hey and Tim Lefebvre.^[2] Nick Littlemore explained the inspiration behind the title as "this image of a modern city overtaken by jungle".^[3]

The album's lead single, "High and Low", was released on 24 August 2016.^[2] This was shortly followed by the album's first promotional single, "Two Vines", which was released the following day.^[4] "To Her Door" was released on 30 September 2016 as the album's second single.^[5]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	6.4/10[6]
Metacritic	66/100[7]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[8]

Two Vines received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 66, based on 14 reviews.^[7]

Track listing

Two Vines track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Before"	Luke Steele Nicholas Littlemore Mayes Henry Hey	Empire of the Sun Peter Mayes	4:04
2.	"High and Low"	Steele Littlemore Mayes Jonathan Sloan	Empire of the Sun Mayes	3:44
3.	"Two Vines"	Steele Littlemore Sloan	Empire of the Sun Donnie Sloan	3:49
4.	"Friends"	Steele Littlemore Mayes Sloan	Empire of the Sun Sloan Mayes	3:20
5.	"There's No Need"	Steele Littlemore Mayes Sloan	Empire of the Sun Mayes Sloan	3:28
6.	"Way to Go"	Steele Littlemore Tim Lefebvre Hey	Empire of the Sun Mayes	3:12
7.	"Ride"	Steele Littlemore Mayes Hey Wendy Melvoin	Empire of the Sun Mayes	4:07
8.	"Digital Life"	Steele Littlemore Teddy Geiger Mayes	Empire of the Sun Mayes	4:02
9.	"First Crush"	Steele Littlemore Mayes Hey Sloan	Empire of the Sun Mayes Sloan	4:10
10.	"ZZZ"	Steele Littlemore Sloan	Empire of the Sun Mayes	3:10
11.	"To Her Door"	Steele Littlemore Mayes Sloan Lindsey Buckingham	Empire of the Sun Mayes	3:55
Total length:				41:01

Deluxe edition bonus tracks^[9]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
12.	"Keystone"	Steele Littlemore Mayes Sloan Joe Hundertmark	Empire of the Sun Mayes Sloan	2:31
13.	"Lend Me Some Light"	Steele Littlemore Mayes Hey	Empire of the Sun Mayes	3:29
14.	"Welcome to My Life"	Steele Littlemore Mayes	Empire of the Sun Mayes	4:02
Total length:				51:03

North American deluxe edition bonus track^[10]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
15.	"Walking on a Dream"	Steele Littlemore Sloan	3:12
Total length:			54:15

Personnel

Empire of the Sun – production Steve Bach – additional keyboards (track 10) Lindsey Buckingham – backing vocals, guitars (track 11) Evan Frasier – mbira (track 10) Teddy Geiger – additional vocals (track 8) Mark Goldenberg – acoustic guitar (tracks 2, 3, 6, 11) Michael Harris – engineering (tracks 6, 12), drum and percussion engineering (track 10) Henry Hey – keyboards (tracks 1, 6, 7, 9) Scott Horscroft – production assistance SK Kakraba – gyil (track 10) Mito Kasuya – vocals (track 9) Tim Lefebvre – bass (tracks 9, 10)

Alan Mark Lightner – marimba, xylophone (track 10) Mike Marsh – mastering Peter Mayes – engineering, mixing, production Jake Najor – drums (tracks 6, 10, 11) Next Episode – artwork Roof Studio – artwork Todd Simon – percussion direction (track 10) Todd M. Simon – marimba, vibraphone (track 10) Donnie Sloan – production Dexter Story – slit drums (track 10) Te'Amir Yohannes Sweeney – slit drums (track 10) David Wilder – bass (track 7)

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for Two Vines Chart (2016) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[11] 7 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[12] 66 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[13] 70 French Albums (SNEP)[14] 168 Irish Albums (IRMA)[15] 78 New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ)[16] 2 Scottish Albums (OCC)[17] 41 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[18] 42 UK Albums (OCC)[19] 42 US Billboard 200[20] 51 US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[21] 1 US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[22] 8 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[23] 11

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for Two Vines Chart (2016) Position US Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[24] 25

References

1. Kaplan, Ilana (9 November 2015). "24 Hours in LA with Empire of the Sun: Vodka, Robots, and Lots of Lasers". Vice. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
2. Reed, Ryan (22 August 2016). "Empire of the Sun Recruit Lindsey Buckingham for New LP". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
3. Pearce, Sheldon (22 August 2016). "Empire of the Sun Announce New Album Two Vines". Pitchfork. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
4. Monroe, Jazz (25 August 2016). "Listen to Empire of the Sun's New Song "Two Vines"". Pitchfork. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
5. "To Her Door – Single by Empire of the Sun". iTunes Store (US). Retrieved 22 October 2016.
6. "Two Vines by Empire Of The Sun reviews | Any Decent Music". www.anydecentmusic.com. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
7. "Reviews for Two Vines by Empire of the Sun". Metacritic. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
8. Sendra, Tim. "Two Vines - Empire of the Sun". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
9. "Two Vines (Deluxe) by Empire of the Sun". iTunes Store (AU). 28 October 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
10. "Two Vines (Deluxe) by Empire of the Sun". iTunes Store (US). Retrieved 1 October 2016.
11. "Australiancharts.com – Empire of the Sun – Two Vines". Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
12. "Ultratop.be – Empire of the Sun – Two Vines" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
13. "Ultratop.be – Empire of the Sun – Two Vines" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
14. "Lescharts.com – Empire of the Sun – Two Vines". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
15. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 44, 2016". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
16. "NZ Heatseekers Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 7 November 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
17. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
18. "Swisscharts.com – Empire of the Sun – Two Vines". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
19. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
20. "Empire of the Sun Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
21. "Empire of the Sun Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
22. "Empire of the Sun Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
23. "Empire of the Sun Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
24. "Dance/Electronic Albums – Year-End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved 10 December 2016.