Pnau, stylised as PNAU, is an Australian

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

trio originating from

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. The trio, a duo before 2016, consists of the musicians Nick Littlemore (vocals, production), Peter Mayes (guitar, production) and Sam Littlemore (production), with the latter joining in 2016. Pnau first gained recognition through their 1999 debut album ''

Sambanova ''Sambanova'' is the debut album by Australian dance music duo Pnau, released in July 1999 on the independent Peking Duck label. However, the album was pulled from record stores due to uncleared samples; Warner Music Australasia re-released it in ...

'', which later won an

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

for Best Dance Release. Their third album, ''

Pnau Pnau, stylised as PNAU, is an Australian Electronic dance music, dance music trio originating from Sydney, Australia, Sydney. The trio, a duo before 2016, consists of the musicians Nick Littlemore (vocals, production), Peter Mayes (guitar, produ ...

'' (2007), brought them further critical acclaim and success. Pnau is also recognised for a heavily publicised apprenticeship under the musician

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

, who signed the duo after listening to the ''Pnau'' album. Several of Pnau's later projects have had John's involvement, such as the album ''

Soft Universe ''Soft Universe'' is the fourth studio album by Australian electronic act Pnau. The album was released in July 2011 by Etcetc and peaked at number 13 on the ARIA Charts; becoming the act's highest charting album to date. The album featured a new ...

'' and an album of Pnau recreations of Elton John's hits called '' Good Morning to the Night''. Apart from being a member of Pnau, Nick Littlemore also appears as one half of the project Empire of the Sun. In November 2016, the new line-up released "

Chameleon Chameleons or chamaeleons (Family (biology), family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 200 species described as of June 2015. The members of this Family (biology), family are best known for ...

", the first single from their album '' Changa''.

Biography

1990s: Beginnings

Pnau formed in Sydney,

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

by Littlemore and Mayes. The two met at secondary school at the age of 12 and began performing together in the mid-1990s, initially playing

acid An acid is a molecule or ion capable of either donating a proton (i.e. Hydron, hydrogen cation, H+), known as a Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory, Brønsted–Lowry acid, or forming a covalent bond with an electron pair, known as a Lewis ...

house music House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...

, and

trance music Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that emerged from Electronic body music, EBM in Frankfurt, Germany, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and quickly spread throughout Europe. Trance music is typically characterized by a tempo between ...

. Littlemore recalled meeting Mayes when he was 10; "He tripped me over. We hated each other for a couple years and then we started sneaking out and going to raves when we were about 13 and we formed a bond over intense music." Littlemore and Mayes created their first album when they were in their mid-teens. "It was called Fractal Geometric Spaces Made of Light," Littlemore remembers, "Which is probably why it was never picked up." The duo's first commercially available tracks were a pair of nine-minute tracks, "Frisk" and "Anthropophagi", that led off ''doof@cybersonic.aust.com'' – an underground acid trance compilation album distributed by cult electronic label Creative Vibes in 1996. Pnau would then feature on another Creative Vibes project, 1998's compilation record ''Evolutionary Vibes III: The Evolution Will Not Be Televised'', with the song "Discone".

1999–2002: ''Sambanova''

In July 1999, Pnau released their debut album ''

'' under the independent

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

Peking Duck. It was recorded in a bedroom studio and they state they only expected it to sell "a few thousand copies". The album was pulled from record stores for using uncleared samples, but re-released in June 2000 and peaked inside the

ARIA In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...

top 40. In October 2000, at the

ARIA Music Awards of 2000 The 14th Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as the ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) was held on 24 October 2000 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. Presenters distributed 28 awards with the big winne ...

, the album won Best Dance Release. In a 2003 interview with ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'', Mayes said that they had no understanding of sample clearances due to their naïveté in the music business. Mayes claimed that the album's recall did seriously affect their commercial sales. Littlemore later contested, "They screwed us over for $300,000. Warners didn't; another third party did. But that happens. We're still here, we're still doing it." Pnau went on to make many live appearances at music festivals like

Big Day Out The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typi ...

in 2001 and

Homebake Homebake was an annual Australian rock festival, featuring an all-Australian lineup (with the occasional artist from New Zealand). The festival was first held on 3 January 1996 at Belongil Fields in Byron Bay, on the far north coast of New Sou ...

in 2002. During this time, they garnered a reputation for their lively performances.

2003–2007: ''Again''

In October 2003, Pnau released their second studio album, '' Again''. The album was not a commercial success and Littlemore was later quoted as '' Again'' being "the worst record I've ever done". Littlemore has since retracted the statement. When asked if he still considered ''Again'' to be his worst record, Littlemore responded, "Well next to ''

''. They're sort of on par." Littlemore further explained that his opinions are influenced by the albums' commercial success, which is an easy headspace for him to get into since "everyone loves Empire of the Sun, it's sold 1.1 million records." Despite the seemingly unfavourable album response, several tracks received considerable acclaim - the most noteworthy being "We Love the Fresh Kills" which was a significantly popular single for the duo at the time. However, because of '' Agains lackluster success the pair parted ways for some time to work with other artists such as

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...

, Van She, and Lost Valentinos.

2007–2009: ''Pnau'' and Empire of the Sun

In 2007, the duo reunited and wrote over two-hundred songs together and started to lay down an entire album with Littlemore's brother Sam as producer. They sent a work-in-progress track to long-time friend and collaborator Luke Steele, who sent back the track with his own vocals. After receiving the track, the Littlemore brothers and Mayes agreed to scrap almost everything they had laid down to focus on a more vocally centred album. The track became known as "With You Forever" and the finalised album was released under the self-titled name ''

''. The album not only featured vocal work from Steele and Littlemore, but also had many guest appearances such as Ladyhawke,

Feadz Feadz (born Fabien Pianta) is a French music producer, Disc jockey, DJ and songwriter currently signed by France, French music label Ed Banger Records. He combines the genres of Hip Hop, hip hop, Electronic music, electronic, techno and French ho ...

, Nik Yannika from Lost Valentinos and Michael DeFrancesco from Van She. The album was released to high critical acclaim and gained unexpected favorable attention from John, declaring it to be the greatest record he'd heard in ten years. Inspired by their track "With You Forever", Pnau began work on a collaboration with Steele, which would call themselves Empire of the Sun. Originally titled Steelemore, Empire of the Sun released its debut single in August 2008 titled " Walking on a Dream" and its debut album in October 2008 with '' Walking on a Dream''. Littlemore and Steele took the roles of bandmates, while Mayes assumed the role of producer. Some critics were quick to note that the band sounded more like a work of Pnau than Steele's band The Sleepy Jackson. Empire of the Sun has achieved international success having been certified 2× Platinum in Australia and gold in the United Kingdom, as well as winning eleven ARIA awards. PNAU makes it clear on their Myspace numerous times that not only is Empire of the Sun a side project of theirs, but that they are also the producers. Regarding Empire of the Sun, in early 2009 news began appearing that Littlemore had disappeared. The reality had been that Nick Littlemore had left Empire of the Sun to begin work on the fourth Pnau album along with John.

2010–2011: ''Soft Universe''

In 2010, Pnau's track "

Baby In common terminology, a baby is the very young offspring of adult human beings, while infant (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'baby' or 'child') is a formal or specialised synonym. The terms may also be used to refer to Juvenile (orga ...

" (remixed by Breakbot) appeared in the release of Sony Computer Entertainment's "

Gran Turismo 5 is a 2010 sim racing video game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. It is the fifth main installment and the tenth overall in the '' Gran Turismo'' series. It was released on Novemb ...

", in the Background Music (BGM) playlist. Pnau Sir Stewart Bovell Park January 2012

In February 2011, Pnau released "The Truth", the lead single from their forthcoming fourth studio album, ''

''. ''Soft Universe'' was released in June 2011 and peaked at number 13 on the ARIA Charts. Littlemore has described it as a very "emotional" album, inspired by the breakup with his long-time girlfriend. With input from John, the album features Littlemore singing all the vocals on the album along with tracks co-written with fellow Aussie artist Martin Craft and producer Mark Saunders. The album was positively received, although mainly critics expressed discontent with the lack of the "endearing weirdness of previous Pnau and Empire releases." The ''Soft Universe'' album received the Australian Independent Record (AIR) Award for Best Independent Dance/Electronica Album.

2012–2015: ''Good Morning to the Night''

On 10 March 2012, the first remix track from the anticipated, upcoming John rework album commissioned for Pnau was leaked, initially airing on Pete Tong's BBC Radio 1 broadcast. In July 2012 two singles were released from the album, " Good Morning to the Night" and " Sad", while the album '' Good Morning to the Night'' was released and reaching number 1 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

. In November 2013 French duo Faul & Wad Ad released "

Changes Changes may refer to: Books * '' Changes: A Love Story'', 1991 novel by Ama Ata Aidoo * ''Changes'' (The Dresden Files) (2010), the 12th novel in Jim Butcher's ''The Dresden Files'' Series * ''Changes'', a 1983 novel by Danielle Steel * ''Chan ...

" credited to, vs Pnau. The song samples Pnau's "

" and reached the top ten in numerous countries across Europe.

2016–2018: ''Changa''

In November 2016, Pnau released "

" as the lead single from the upcoming fifth studio album. The song peaked at number 4 on the

ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...

and was certified 4× platinum. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2017, the song won the groups their second

ARIA Award for Best Dance Release In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompaniment, normally part of a large ...

. '' Changa'' was released in November 2017 and peaked at number 11 on the ARIA Charts. The album spawned two more singles " Go Bang" and " Changa". At the ARIA Music Awards of 2018, "Go Bang" won the group's third ARIA Award for Best Dance Release.

2019–present: ''Hyperbolic''

The band released the single " Solid Gold" on 2 May 2019. The song continues Pnau's collaboration with Kira Divine on vocals, and also features additional vocals by Marques Toliver. The band hosted a live chat on their Facebook page to support the release. In August 2019, the band released the single "All of Us". In December 2020, the band worked with Ladyhawke again and released the single "

River A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

". In August 2021, Pnau produced a remix medley of several John songs along with

Dua Lipa Dua Lipa ( ; born22 August 1995) is an English and Albanian singer, songwriter and actress. List of awards and nominations received by Dua Lipa, Her accolades include seven Brit Awards and three Grammy Awards. Lipa worked as a model before v ...

, titled " Cold Heart (Pnau remix)". The single charted in many countries worldwide, becoming their 3rd top 10 in Australia and their second in the UK, as well as their first song to chart in the US. Over the next few years, Pnau released singles with Budjerah,

Troye Sivan Troye Sivan Mellet ( ; born 5 June 1995) is an Australian singer-songwriter and actor. After gaining popularity as a singer on YouTube and in Australian talent competitions, Sivan signed with Universal Music Australia, EMI Australia in 2013 and ...

, Khalid, Bebe Rexha and

Ozuna Juan Carlos Ozuna Rosado (; born March 13, 1992), known simply by his surname Ozuna, is a Puerto Rican singer, born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico to a Dominican father and a Puerto Rican mother. Five of his studio albums have topped ...

. In October 2023, Pnau released "" AEIOU"" with Empire of the Sun and announced the titled of their sixth studio album, ''

Hyperbolic Hyperbolic may refer to: * of or pertaining to a hyperbola, a type of smooth curve lying in a plane in mathematics ** Hyperbolic geometry, a non-Euclidean geometry ** Hyperbolic functions, analogues of ordinary trigonometric functions, defined u ...

'', scheduled for release in March 2024.

Discography

Studio albums

Remix albums

Singles

Notes

Promotional singles

Notable remixes

Awards and nominations

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as

AIR Awards The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. History The inaugural 2006 awards were held at Blacket Hot ...

) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. ! , - , rowspan="2" ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, ''Soft Universe'' , Best Independent Dance/Electronic Album , , rowspan="2" , , - , "Solid Ground" , Best Independent Dance/Electronic Single , , - , rowspan="2" ,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, ''Changa'' , Best Independent Dance/Electronic Album , , rowspan="2" , , - , "Go Bang" , rowspan="2" , Best Independent Dance/Electronic Single , , - ,

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, "Solid Gold" , , , - ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, "River" (featuring Ladyhawke) , rowspan="3" , Best Independent Dance, Electronica or Club Single , , , - ,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, "Stranger Love" (with Budjerah) , , , - ,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, "You Know What I Need" (with

) , , , - ,

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, Pnau , Independent Producer of the Year , , , - , rowspan="1",

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

, ''Hyperbolic'' , Best Independent Dance or Electronica Album or EP , , rowspan="1", , -

ARIA Awards

The

is an annual awards ceremony held by the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...

. They commenced in 1987. Pnau have won 3 awards from 17 nominations. , - ,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, ''Sambanova'' , rowspan="2" , Best Dance Release , , - , rowspan="2",

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, ''Pnau'' , , - , "Baby" (James Littlemore) , Best Video , , - ,

, ''Soft Universe'' , rowspan="2" , Best Dance Release , , - , rowspan="2",

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, rowspan="2", "Chameleon" , , - , Song of the Year , , - , rowspan="7",

, ''Changa'' , Album of the Year , , - , rowspan="4", "Go Bang" , Best Group , , - , Best Dance Release , , - , Best Independent Release , , - , Song of the Year , , - , Toby Pike and Nick Littlemore - Pnau "Go Bang" , Best Video , , - , Pnau Changa Australian Tour , Best Australian Live Act , , - , rowspan="2",

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, "Solid Gold" , Best Dance Release , , - , Clemens Habicht - "Solid Gold" , rowspan="2" , Best Video , , - , rowspan="2",

, Imogen Grist, Nick Littlemore for "Lucky" (featuring Vlossom) , , - , All of Us Australian Tour , Best Australian Live Act , , - ,

, "You Know What I Need" (with Troy Sivan) , Best Dance/Electronic Release , , -

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are held in Australia and New Zealand by the

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwri ...

to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually. , - , rowspan="2",

, rowspan="2", "Chameleon" , Dance Work of the Year , , - , Most Played Australian Work , , - , rowspan="2",

, rowspan="2", "Go Bang" , Dance Work of the Year , , - , Most Played Australian Work , , - ,

, "Solid Gold" , rowspan="3" , Most Performed Dance Work of the Year , , - ,

, "All of Us" (featuring Ollie Gabriel) , , - ,

, "River" (featuring Ladyhawke) , , - ,

, rowspan="1", "You Know What I Need" (featuring Troye Sivan) , Most Performed Dance/Electronic Work , , - ,

, rowspan="1", "AEIOU" (featuring Empire of the Sun) , Most Performed Dance/Electronic Work , , -

Berlin Music Video Awards

The Berlin Music Video Awards is a festival that promotes the art of music videos.

J Award

The

J Awards The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards, established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J, and which also extend to sister stations, Triple J Unearthed and Double J. The awar ...

are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

's youth-focused radio station

Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...

. They commenced in 2005. , - ,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, ''Pnau'' , Australian Album of the Year ,

MTV Europe Music Awards

The

MTV Europe Music Awards The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an al ...

is an award presented by

Viacom International Media Networks Paramount International Networks (PIN) is the international division of the Paramount Media Networks subsidiary of Paramount Global that oversees the production, broadcasting and promotion of its brands outside of the United States. These brand ...

to honour artists and music in

pop culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...

. , - ,

, themselves , Best Australian Act , , -

National Live Music Awards

The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) commenced in 2016 to recognise contributions to the live music industry in Australia. , - ,

, Pnau , Live Electronic Act (or DJ) of the Year , , -

Rolling Stone Australia Awards

The Rolling Stone Australia Awards are awarded annually in January or February by the Australian edition of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' magazine for outstanding contributions to popular culture in the previous year. ! , - , 2022 , Pnau , Rolling Stone Global Award , , , -

Notes

References

External links

*
Pnau Interview with Alchemy

SBS Radio SBS Radio is an Australian radio network owned by the Special Broadcasting Service directed towards newly arrived immigrants in Australia. It originally began as two stations based in Melbourne and Sydney, set up to provide pre-recorded informa ...

2008-04-30
"Pnau and then"

, 17 October 2003
Discogs entry for PnauVideo from the Pnau live in France for the before of the Trans Musicales festival
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pnau 1999 establishments in Australia ARIA Award winners Australian electronic music groups Australian indie pop groups Australian musical trios Australian male musical duos Musical groups established in 1999 Musical groups from Sydney Sony Music artists Australian DJs