The Temper Trap have announced ‘Sungazer’ – their first new album in 10 years. Check out the tender title track below.
The indie giants went on hiatus in 2018, after winning over regions of fans with hit songs including ‘Sweet Disposition’. Last summer, they teased the end of their hiatus by sharing a montage of their career with the caption: “Did you miss us?”
In September, they dropped ‘Lucky Dimes’ – their first new original material in nine years – and followed this up with ‘Giving Up Air’ and ‘Into The Wild’, as well as announcing support dates with Muse.
Now, the band have confirmed their first new album in 10 years, called ‘Sungazer’ and set for release on July 10 via Mushroom Music / Virgin Music Group.
The record was written after the four of them found other routes after announcing their hiatus, with frontman Dougy Mandagi moving to Berlin, before relocating to his home country Indonesia, and drummer Toby Dundas set up a recording studio and starting scoring for films.
Bassist Jonathon Aherne released a solo project from his home base in America, and guitarist Joseph Greer threw his energy into teaching. After a four-year break, they came back together to harness a new sense of inspiration and trade demos for new music.
The break saw them confront burnout and rediscover their artistic identities, and this new sense of momentum and clarity is set to be captured throughout the new album.
“With time apart and much personal growth from us all, ‘Sungazer ‘feels like it’s captured the most pure collection of music we’ve ever made,” said the band. “We had more fun making this record and in the writing room than on any of the previous records we’ve done. We’re in a great place creatively and in our friendships, we’re closer than ever. Being back into the studio together really felt like coming home.”
Today (Thursday April 2), the band have also released the title track from the record, which is one of their most personal songs to date.
It was written from Mandagi to his son, and captures the quiet, enduring love of parenthood, alongside a balance of indie, trip-hop and anthemic rock.
“Sungazer is a song I wrote as a declaration to my little boy Ziggy before he was born. The lyrics are a promise to him, to be with him throughout his life,” the frontman shared. Check out the song below, and visit here to pre-order the album.
As aforementioned, the band are set to support Muse on an extended North American tour taking place across July and August. They will also make festival appearances at Outside Lands in San Francisco and Summerfest in Milwaukee – sharing the stage with the likes of The Strokes, Rüfüs Du Sol and Charli XCX.
These dates follow on from a run of live shows they played last year, which marked their return to the stage.
As well as the Muse dates, The Temper Trap have also announced a string of headline shows in Australia, North America and the UK later this year, kicking off in Brisbane on October 24.
In November, they’ll play a headline show at London’s O2 Forum Kentish Town, before heading to North America for gigs in Toronto, Brooklyn and Los Angeles. Tickets are on sale now, and you can get yours here (UK dates), here (Australian dates) and here (rest of the world).
As well as finding fame with ‘Sweet Disposition’, the band’s ‘Love Lost’ was also sampled by the late rapper Mac Miller on his 2011 mixtape ‘I Love Life, Thank You’.
More recently, it emerged that Taylor Swift once asked the band to handwrite the lyrics to the hit 2008 song for Harry Styles‘ birthday when the pair were in a relationship.
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