Nick Littlemore on Pnau, yoga new Empire of the Sun and his Elton-assisted leap to the A-list

Nick Littlemore thought he was already working with some heavy-hitters, until his collaboration with Elton John.

His Cold Heart collaboration with Elton John and Dua Lipa, as part of the Australian music trio Pnau, has opened unimaginable doors for Nick Littlemore.

“It’s been such a gift; this life that’s been afforded to us, to me,” Littlemore says. “I’ve been able to travel on not that much talent, but a lot of will, and that will has been combined with so many incredible people.

“That spirit, since the Elton record, has reached so many people, at such a phenomenal level. We’re now walking into rooms we’d never even knew existed. It’s a secret world, this world of top-liners and high-level singers.”

He adds: “We’re really at the precipice, this liminal moment between the ordinary life we’ve lived, the music we’ve made, and these records that are interstellar”

In short, the global hit Cold Heart has made Pnau — Littlemore, his brother Sam, and Peter Mayes — hot property.

Of course, they were proven chart-toppers with Chameleon and Go Bang, but Cold Heart is next level. Pop superstars are suddenly calling, and Pnau is working with them in LA, London, Paris and Stockholm.

Sam Littlemore, Nick Littlemore and Peter Mayes of PNAU have gone to the next level. Picture: Supplied.

“We’re working with some of the biggest artists in the world right now,” Littlemore says.

“I don’t know if I can say names, but Pnau is a whole journey of its own.”

Indeed, Pnau’s remix album for Sir Elton John, Good Morning To The Night, released in 2012, now stands as a prequel to the knighted superstar’s blazing return to the pop charts, and dancefloor, 10 years later.

“My parents had a few Elton records on vinyl, but he’s not someone I thought about until I was actually standing in front of the man,” Littlemore says, laughing. “Everything in that moment crystallised, and for us, everything changed.”

With Pnau on the cusp of the major league, Littlemore is also working on two equally important projects, a new Empire Of The Sun (EOTS) record with Luke Steele, and a new-age album with collaborators including Justus West and Benny Bock.

Littlemore will premiere his ambient recordings alongside a yoga session by Tahl Rinsky at Wanderlust True North, a wellness festival being staged in Sydney and Melbourne later this month.

“I’m very passionate about the new instrumental pieces,” he says. “It’s a way of working with high level composers, but doing it playfully. It’s very open-ended, and we’re talking more about mathematics, dimethyltryptamine, and how we can achieve higher states of consciousness purely through patterning and polyrhythms.

“I think people are really going to be dazzled by it,” Littlemore says. “It’s colourful and interesting and strange. A brand new world, actually.”

Elton John helped introduce Nick Littlemore to a whole new world of collaborators. Picture: AFP

Wanderlust True North includes music, yoga, meditation, and inspirational stories of transformation.

“I’m trying to get well, so I feel like this is a good path,” Littlemore says.

Three years ago, he started experiencing facial paralysis as a result of the neurological disorder Ramsay Hunt syndrome.

“I’ve done a few things,” Littlemore says of his wellness routine.

“When my face collapsed I went to India for about a month to soak in all that. But I’ve never done yoga as a daily practice. I should. With the late nights, my schedule and travelling, I find it hard to stay in one routine.”

He is dealing with Ramsay Hunt by showing gratitude.

“I think anytime anyone is given the opportunity to see the world with a new perspective, it’s incredibly enriching,” he says.

“I think, initially, I was probably a brattish person about it. I was angry. But then I started to realise I was incredibly grateful, and I became overwhelmed by that. It’s been quite a journey, but a welcome one.”

Littlemore and Steele have regrouped in LA to start work on the new EOTS record. Their past hits include Walking On A Dream, We Are The People, and High And Low.

Nick Littlemore says new Empire of the Sun music with Luke Steele (left) is in the works.

“It’s been four years since we’ve been in the studio together, so it’s a remarkable time for us,” Littlemore says. “We’ve really clicked, and the more we do it, it becomes about us working the vocal and making the story right.

“And much like the Ramsay Hunt thing, I’m so grateful. It’s been so long. Luke moved way up north to the (California-Oregon) border. He’s come back to the city for a brief moment before he’s moving on again.

“We’re so grateful to be in each other’s presence. You don’t know what’s going to happen, but last night we made this record that felt heaven sent. Just the chorus alone, when it first came through … it became part of us. It was running through our blood. It’s still there, you know,” Littlemore says, smiling.

He says Pnau will tour in September and October, and a EOTS tour plan is being worked out.

“I don’t want to get into trouble,” he says of blabbing too much about Empire’s return to the stage. “We’ve got quite a big plan coming, it’s all formulating. It’s like a backwards tornado — it comes through, sweeps everything up, and shoots everything into the sky.”

Wanderlust True North, The Cutaway, Barangaroo, September 17; and Royal Exhibition Building, Carlton, September 24. Tickets: wanderlust.com.au

Originally published as Nick Littlemore on Pnau, yoga new Empire of the Sun and his Elton-assisted leap to the A-list