The Temper Trap Are Back: We’ve Got ‘Unfinished Business’

The Temper Trap burned out, took a break, and now are back with their first album in a decade. “I felt like I needed to step away and explore other musical adventures and try to find that fire again,” says lead singer Dougy Mandagi.

Not everything has changed, however. “I still haven’t grown up in my head, you know,” he adds. “I’m still trying to capture the sound of youth, even though I’m definitely not a young buck anymore.”

In the late aughts, the Australian band unleashed their 2009 debut album, Conditions, delivering the euphoric millennial anthems “Sweet Disposition” and “Love Lost.” The fervor for their music launched Mandagi, bassist Jonathon Aherne, drummer Toby Dundas, and guitarist Lorenzo Sillitto onto the charts and stages across the world. After nearly two decades and two more albums later, the relentless touring and industry expectations for another “Sweet Disposition” took a heavy toll on the band.

In 2013, Sillitto walked away from the group, which had picked up Joseph Greer on keyboards and guitar along the way. Five years later, the remaining members collectively decided to go their separate ways. Mandagi packed up and moved to Berlin, surrounding himself in the city’s electronic music culture before relocating to his home country, Indonesia. Dundas established his own recording studio and began composing film scores; Aherne headed to the United States and released a solo project; and Greer became a teacher.

The time apart allowed the band to come back on their own terms. Now, their fourth album, Sungazer, is here. It’s a searing testament to the Temper Trap’s ability to capture joy and grief alongside propulsive rhythms and Mandagi’s devastating vocals. The band is also on a tour In an interview with Rolling Stone, Mandagi and Dundas reflect on their hiatus, return to the studio, and creating an album free of expectation.

How did it feel coming back to the studio 10 years after releasing Thick as Thieves?Mandagi: I think we were a little bit unsure when we first got together again. We were definitely just wanting to test the waters before diving into it. But the first day we were in the studio, we worked on “Kuru,” which is the last song on the record — so that was the first song that we worked on, which is cool. It instantly felt great. The chemistry was there, the ideas were fresh, and we got excited again. So, we decided to do more days, and that led to almost three years making this record, but it’s been really enjoyable and fun.

Some of the scheduling was a bit difficult. That’s why it took so long, but every time we were together, it was really inspiring.

To be away from each other, after being so close on tour, must have a big change. Dundas: We went into it with no expectations — hopeful that sort of creative energy between the four of us would still be there, but, after such a long time away from each other, there’s no guarantee.

When we worked on “Kuru” there instantly was that buzz that something cool was happening. A lot of the things that came from that song spread to the rest of the work and we walked away from that day with a real sense of what was possible — if we knuckle down, put the work in, and ride that creative beast that you’re always trying to catch in songwriting, we could come up with was something worthwhile to say.

With the band split across different continents, how has your songwriting process evolved since your last album?Mandagi: Working remotely is a new thing that we’ve been doing. In the past, we allocated “x” amount of time for us to all get together in the studio and jam out these songs. But as we’re all living in different continents, we don’t have that luxury. We have gotten together a bunch of times, different members have flown into Melbourne, and there were times when all of us would be in there in the studio. Then there were times when only two of us would be in the studio with our producer [Styalz Fuego], and the rest of the time, we worked remotely, coming up with ideas and sending tracks over to each other. Related Content The Temper Trap Announce ‘Sungazer,’ Their First Album in a Decade The Temper Trap, 'Trembling Hands' (Chet Faker Remix) – Free MP3 The Temper Trap, 'The Temper Trap' Best Indie Label: Glassnote Records

That’s a new thing that we didn’t do on the previous albums, and maybe that’s one of the reasons why it took quite a while to do it. But, in hindsight it’s actually a real luxury to be able to do that — to write and record something, and then go away and sit on it for a month and let the idea percolate. Looking back now, it’s probably a good thing that we had all this time to really let the ideas simmer and mature.

Dundas: Yeah, and being able to road test a lot of the songs live really shines a light on what bits of songs are good and have an instant connection to the audience, and which bits don’t. Like Dougy was saying, you get space to make the right decisions and do the best thing for the song. It was something we always did on the first album, and maybe not so much on the other two.

Mandagi: In fact, I think it is “Into the Wild” that was already mixed and ready. Then we got together for a gig, and we were just practicing, and I played a different chord, and I went, “Wait a minute, that’s the right chord.” Then we had to dig up the song again and re-record that just to put that chord in. I mean, a bunch of people were probably pissed off about that, to be honest, but it’s the fact that we got to do it, and now the song really feels right, and it feels better.

We wouldn’t have been able to do it had we not had, like Toby said, the opportunity to road test songs. The song will inform itself when you play it live, it tells you what it wants. It’s a different environment in the studio to the energy when there’s an audience in front of you.

You’ve talked about experiencing burnout after touring so much and having this expectation of releasing another “Sweet Disposition.” Can you walk me through what that pressure felt like at the time?Mandagi: The pressure was the main catalyst to burning out, just talking about me personally. I still enjoyed the tour life and hanging out with the boys — that was fun back then, and it still is — but there was always this cloud hanging over me and over the band to reach the success of “Sweet Disposition” again. It sort of took over the creative process, and whether it was intentional, or subconsciously or consciously, I felt like all the ideas were stale. It’s probably because we were all trying to chase that and prioritizing writing another “Sweetest Disposition” over making art. You know, doing something genuine and creative.

Did being in Berlin help?Mandagi: That helped. I mean, my time there also opened my eyes to a completely new genre of music. It wasn’t completely unknown, of course. I was aware of electronic music, but I wasn’t that interested in it. I think the type of electronic music that I was exposed to prior to moving to Berlin was pretty bad, pretty cheesy stuff. After moving to Berlin and being introduced to really quality electronic music, making music with people there, and doing my solo project, which was also electronic based, opened my mind more to different types of music and a different way of working.

How did working in Berlin, and for you, Toby, creating film scoring on your own, come together to create this new sound on the album?Dundas: There was this space from creating in the box that is the Temper Trap … Slowly, walls get built up over your career and that can be hard to break out of it. You’ve got your labels and management really seeming to be hyper-focused on quite a narrow path and on one song in our careers.

Taking the time away and working on other projects, working with other people — in my case doing some like film scoring and things like that — felt like a complete reset of those creative impulses. So, when we were back together, I feel like the other three guys equally were coming at it from that place. We could naturally chase down these ideas and instincts that turned into the songs that became the album without second guessing: “Is this what the label is going to like?” or “Does this sound enough like ‘Sweet Disposition’? Can we only write in these tempos or keys?”