PNAU

Pnau emerged as one of Australia's most innovative electronic outfits, blending house, funk, jungle, rave, and pop across their career while collecting ARIA trophies and securing a U.K. chart-topping position with a remix collection centered on Elton John. Their partnership with John reached worldwide prominence in the early 2020s through the multiplatinum international blockbuster "Cold Heart (Pnau remix)," which also featured Dua Lipa.

School friends Nick Littlemore and Peter Mayes established the project in the mid-'90s. Their initial recordings mixed acid house and trance, setting them apart from the rock-dominated Australian scene of that era. The 1999 debut album Sambanova fused deep house, funk, hip-hop, Latin, and jazz elements, earning the duo an ARIA Music Award for Best Dance Release. Copyright complications with several samples later forced the original version off the market, prompting a 2001 reissue that carried a modestly revised track listing. Although the 2003 follow-up Again yielded singles like "We Love the Fresh Kills," commercial returns fell short of the first record, leading Mayes and Littlemore to pause Pnau activities and pursue outside collaborations.

The pair reconvened in 2007 and enlisted Luke Steele of the Sleepy Jackson for "With You Forever," a move that encouraged them to explore vocal-driven material. Contributions from Feadz and Ladyhawke joined Steele's input on the self-titled third album, released later that year. Strong critical reception followed, and the experience prompted Littlemore and Steele to launch Empire of the Sun, whose 2008 single "Walking on a Dream" and accompanying album achieved global reach. Elton John became an admirer and joined the duo for their fourth album, Soft Universe, issued in 2011. Drawing from the dissolution of one of Littlemore's relationships, the record incorporated co-writing from Martin Craft and producer Mark Saunders while adopting a more direct sonic approach. John and Pnau teamed again for Good Morning to the Night in 2012, an album that reworked eight of the veteran singer-songwriter's compositions and debuted at number one on the U.K. Album Charts that June.

Littlemore devoted several years to Empire of the Sun before Pnau reappeared in 2016 with the addition of his brother Sam as a full member. The resulting trio effort, 2017's Changa, revived the celebratory, dance-focused aesthetic of earlier releases. Lead single "Chameleon" captured an ARIA award for Best Dance Release that year. The disco-leaning track "Solid Gold," featuring Kira Divine and Marques Toliver, surfaced in May 2019 and attained platinum status while earning the group another ARIA nomination. Global attention intensified in 2021 when Pnau's rework of "Cold Heart" appeared on John's The Lockdown Sessions album alongside Dua Lipa; the song received multiplatinum certification and climbed to the summit of charts throughout Europe, North America, and Australasia, marking one of the year's signature hits.