The Temper Trap have spoken about their new self-titled second album and revealed that the record has lyrics inspired by last summer’s riots and the end of singer Dougy Mandagi’s relationship.
The Australian band’s second studio album will be released in the UK on May 21, with a single ‘Need Your Love’ released on May 7. You can hear ‘Need Your Love’ by scrolling down to the bottom of the page and clicking.
Speaking to NME about the album, the band’s guitarist Lorenzo Sillitto revealed that the band wrote 40 songs during the creation of the record and came up with lyrics for 25 of them.
Asked about the recording of the LP, Sillitto said: “We started writing in February of last year and we finished up in September. Then after that we went straight into pre-production and then ended up recording from November right through to January. We came up with music for about 35-40 songs, with lyrics for about 25. We then whittled that down to 17, there’s 12 on the album and a few left over for other things.”
Then asked about what kind of album he believed the band had created, Sillitto said that it featured “lots of different moods”, but that recording in California had definitely been an influence.
Speaking about this, he said: “There’s lot of different moods on the record, some of its very bright and some of its more melancholic. When we started writing it felt a bit darker, but over time the songs took on a new life and recording in California meant some of the sun definitely seeped in.”
Then asked about what had inspired the album’s lyrics, Sillitto said that the end of Mandagi’s relationship had initially been the lyrical source for many of the album’s early songs, but things got a lot more positive as writing went on.
Asked about the album’s lyrics, he replied: “A lot of the lyrics were written right after Dougie had just gone through a relationship break-up. So some of them were heartbreak lyrics and some were isolation lyrics. As he got over that, he started commented on other things, there’s even a song about the London riots because we were right in the middle of it.”
Asked for information about the riots inspired track, Sillitto said: “We all live in Hackney so when we were rehearsing, we’d finish and we’d see it all going on. There was a gang who hung around outside my flat for the whole summer. It very surreal to see it on TV and actually realise you were right in the middle of it.”
The Temper Trap will tour the UK in May in support of the album, playing a total of eight shows across the country. The gigs begin in Falmouth at the Princess Pavilions on May 9 and run until May 22, when the band play the second of two shows at London’s KOKO venue.
The band were also confirmed as the headliners of Oxfordshire’s Truck Festival last month.
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