The Temper Trap Drop First Album in 10 Years
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- The Temper Trap announced 'Sungazer,' their fourth studio album and first in a decade, arriving July 10, following their 2016 album 'Thick as Thieves.'
- Dougy Mandagi moved to Berlin and then Indonesia during the hiatus, while Toby Dundas opened a recording studio and composed for films, Jonathon Aherne released a solo project from America, and Joseph Greer pursued teaching.
- The band collaborated across continents, sending demos to each other and reuniting in Melbourne for studio sessions, calling the record 'the most pure collection of music we've ever made.'
- The announcement comes days after the band revealed they will support Muse on a North American tour this summer and appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live! performing their single 'Giving Up Air.'
- The album has been previewed with singles 'Into The Wild' and 'Lucky Dimes,' with the title track set to release Wednesday evening.
- Mandagi describes the title track 'Sungazer' as 'a declaration to my little boy Ziggy before he was born,' calling the lyrics 'a promise to him, to be with him throughout his life.'
Why it matters: A decade between albums is an unusually long gap, and the band's simultaneous booking on Muse's North American tour plus a Jimmy Kimmel Live! slot signals a coordinated, high-visibility re-entry rather than a casual one-off. The cross-continental writing process — spanning Berlin, Indonesia, the U.S., and Melbourne — gives the band a creative reinvention narrative to offer both their original millennial audience and new listeners.
