Buddha was revealed to me, says multi-instrumentalist Nicholas Littlemore.
And the theme really rushed through me: I wanted to write about plants and love and the planet.
Here, Littlemore and Steele take EW behind their trippy vision.
STEELE:The beginning and end of everything is that were always trying to write great songs.
Its the patchwork of the Empire.
At this point in our lives, we wanted to make a record thats more bare and honest.
Ice On The Dunewas set in the 31st century.
DoesTwo Vineshave an equally defined setting?
LITTLEMORE:I had a profound experience about a year and a half ago.
Buddha was revealed to through meditation and that really affected me.
The theme really rushed through me: I wanted to write about plants and love and the planet.
What was it like working with Lindsey Buckingham?
He said he loved the band and would love to come to the studio.
But he fell right in he felt like a member of the band.
I understand you have a unique producing-style.
We initiate the music through all this old gear.
Sometimes we say, Oh, I dont even know if the audience notices.
STEELE:It has so much more of a soul, a bit more nourishment, than modern gear.
Its like how I only buy old guitars now.
When you play an old guitar, it has so many unfinished songs to get out of it.
Have you considered how you will present the album?
Staging and costume-design have always been so huge for the band.
LITTLEMORE:Its a lot more minimal.
After my experience, Im wearing the Buddhist color, the orange, and little else.
I didnt want to wear beads or any adornment.
Luke is very very basic blue silk.
He still has a headpiece but were trying to pull it back toward the essential.
STEELE:Its like youre walking into the jungle and you have one garment that you put on.
After the 2013 album, there were rumors of a rift between the two of you.
How are you now?
Walking On A Dream cracked into the Billboard Hot 100 this year, eight years after it originally released.
How does that feel?
LITTLEMORE:Where my grandmother lived in Sydney, you could walk down a hill to the harbor.
Everything you ever do, its going to come back in some way.
