The Temper Trap are set to unveil their new album, 'Thick As Thieves', 10 June, four years since the release of their self-titled, second album.
The Temper Trap have now sold more than one million albums worldwide, and had their songs streamed more than 200-million times on Spotify. They first came to fame in 2009 with their critically acclaimed debut album ‘Conditions’, which included global hits ‘Sweet Disposition’, ‘Fader’ and ‘Love Lost’. “Each album is four years apart, and you would think that we would be able to put it out quicker than that,” says bassist Jonny Aherne.
“But there is a great deal of care and we just wanted to make sure it was something that we loved and that our fans would enjoy. We have written so many songs for this album. It’s funny [laughs]; the songwriting process, when does it start and when does it finish? We are always writing. But actually, a song that just got released this week called ‘Burn’ was a song that I started in the back of the tour bus somewhere in America. That riff was the beginning of one of the earliest songs, which made it onto album three.”
The band’s first two albums have both gone platinum in Australia, showing that although they have moved internationally to further their career, Australia is still very much behind them. “Coming home really hits the heart pretty hard. As Australians we are all very adventurous people and we like to travel, but every time I come home I feel more centred,” Jonny says.
“This is a beautiful country that I’m from and I really enjoy coming back. There is this thing that happens, where I just have to stand back and be like these are my people and we speak the same language so to speak.”
When asked how their new songs differ from tracks on ‘Conditions’, Jonny responds with a laugh. “Well, I feel like we’ve done the best we can do, we’ve done something that can stand up next to ‘Conditions’. Between the first and second albums, my favourite is ‘Conditions’. We’ve reviewed some of our strengths from that album and definitely produced some solid tunes. Whether we win or not [an ARIA] I don’t know, but I’m proud of what we’ve done.”
The new album also sees the band collaborating with other songwriters for the first time. Justin Parker (Sia, Bat For Lashes) who worked on ‘Fall Together’; Ben Allen (Animal Collective); Malay, co-writer and producer of Frank Ocean’s ‘Channel Orange’; and Pascal Gabriel (Ladyhawke, Goldfrapp) who worked on the album's title track. “The band is kind of like a family; it’s all very internal and personal. You understand each other.
"So extending that out is kind of like letting someone into your family a little bit, but if you’re willing to include someone into your family you can learn from them and we got to have all these other opinions and so, ultimately it was a very good experience. It was quite a privilege really,” Jonny acknowledges.
'Thick As Thieves' will be released nationally 10 June.
