It has been a minute—eight years, to be precise—since The Temper Trap last laid down a full-length record. After soundtracking an entire era of the 2010s with ubiquitous anthems like “Sweet Disposition” and “Love Lost,” the band opted to step off the global touring hamster wheel in 2018 to recharge, recalibrate, and remember who they were outside of the tour bus.
Now they're back with Sungazer, their fourth studio album, to get the full vinyl-variant, sold-out-before-release treatment—proof that absence really did make the fanbase's heart grow louder.
Abandoning the rigid formulas of slick indie-pop, Sungazer lands as an 11-track sonic kaleidoscope that bridges intimate vulnerability with heavy-hitting electronica and massive, fuzzy rock catharsis.
Reconnecting after a lengthy hiatus is tricky enough on its own, but making a record when your band members are scattered across different continents adds a whole new level of chaos. Yet, for The Temper Trap, distance proved to be a catalyst rather than a roadblock.
“Obviously the hiatus years leading up to starting the record were challenging for different reasons, but once we got back together in the studio to start writing, the ideas were flowing,” the band shares. “The main challenges were logistic with all of us living in different countries, but there's some new tech that makes writing remotely much easier—and we managed to get together in Melbourne plenty of times."
That blend of remote experimentation and raw studio spontaneity birthed some of the album’s most explosive moments, including the standout track “Lucky Dimes.”
“Making a record from around the world meant doing things in new ways for us,” they explain. “‘Lucky Dimes’ is a track that came together in an afternoon. A drum part I had recorded on my iPhone, that our producer mangled with guitar FX into the foundation of the track, and then some DI guitars turned into one of the gnarliest walls of sound we've ever created. Dougy's vocal performance drips with attitude in just the right way to top it all off.”
Lyrically, frontman Dougy Mandagi digs deep, using his signature, soaring falsetto to navigate uncharted emotional territory. The album grapples with heavy themes—the painful sting of loss, the weight of "our place in the universe" pressed up against something as small and enormous as a newborn son.
To match that emotional weight, the band constructed a soundscape that feels completely uninhibited.
“Lyrically, the inspiration behind the songs on Sungazer comes from Dougy's experience of loss and longing, love and hope for a newborn son, our place in the universe, amongst other things. Over the 12 songs, there's a real depth to his writing and the worlds he's reflecting,” the band notes.
“Musically, it's a real melting pot of influences—from Big Beat and Trip Hop through to dense waves of guitar fuzz and driving drums. We tried not to overthink things and just followed where the inspiration was taking us.”
That instinctual > architectural approach shines brightly on the new focus track, “Runaways”—a euphoric, reverb-drenched anthem celebrating outsiders and dreamers, inspired in part by Mandagi’s Indonesian upbringing. It’s accompanied by hard-hitting singles like “Giving Up Air,” which has already cracked the Top 30 at US Alternative Radio and proven to be an absolute weapon in their live set.
While the album hurtles through highs and lows, it closes on a deeply sentimental note with “Kuru”—the very first piece of music they wrote when they reunited in a room together.
“‘Kuru’ is the last song on the record and we actually wrote on the very first day we got back together so it's got a special place in our hearts,” they reveal.
With exclusive vinyl variants selling out globally before the album even hit shelves, and buzzing listening parties spanning from Melbourne and Jakarta to London and Los Angeles, it’s clear the appetite for the band hasn't diminished.
If anything, time away has only made the connection stronger. The Temper Trap are currently on a massive 24-date tour across North America supporting Muse—alongside festival spots like Outside Lands—before heading home to Australia for a victory-lap headline tour.
“We wanted to make a statement and create the record we've always wanted to make—music that is authentically us, as we are today,” the band reflects. “With time apart and much personal growth from us all, Sungazer feels like it’s captured the purest collection of music we’ve ever made.”
Sungazer is out now. Catch The Temper Trap on tour across North America with Muse throughout the summer, and keep an eye out for Australian headline dates coming soon.
Photo credit: Alberto Zimmerman
