Photo Credit: Kevin O’Sullivan
The Temper Trap’s long awaited return to the UK stage was as beautiful and brilliant as you could hope.
Everyone knows The Temper Trap. Or, if not the Aussie indie group as a whole, at least their most famous track. It’s everywhere. Sadly, the same can’t be said for The Temper Trap — their international, non-Australian shows have been severely lacking for what feels like the last decade. Well, they’re finally making up for that, with a string of teasing worldwide dates to essentially stir some chum into the global scene and stir the world into an auditory frenzy. And, from how well their recent show in London went down, that’s just what’s happened.
First up, though, came Tempesst, fellow London-based Aussies who set the stage alight with their contemplative, slow-burning psychedelic rock. Blending layers of sound under pensive vocals, the band’s tracks offered the crowd a tantalising taste of their live prowess. Whether it was the slow-building groove of Must Be a Dream or the driving sound of Reach Me, the band was clearly in their element — which was no surprise, given how enamoured the crowd seemed to be. A particular highlight was the instrumental climax of Stranger to You Now, the trio of guitars creating a richly textured soundscape under Toma Benjamin’s soaring, crooning voice that slowly faded into nothing. Brilliant. 8/10
The Temper Trap’s sudden return back in August felt like a fever dream. Until August earlier this year, the Australian indie-heavyweights hadn’t released any new, original music for over nine years. But now, with only two new tracks under their respective belts, all released in support of their as-of-yet-unannounced upcoming album, it was time for their long-awaited come back; and, as the almost blinding strobes of the instantly recognisable opener Love Lost resolved into a beautiful spiral of lights, the band left half-backlit as the beams cascaded across the crowd, it was all guns a-blazing.
With a set primarily consisting of tracks from their iconic 2009 debut Conditions — we mean, who doesn’t remember the first time they listened to Love Lost, or heard Sweet Disposition in any of the seemingly hundreds of adverts, TV shows and films that have plastered it across public consciousness? — the night became as much a nostalgic saunter down memory lane as much as was a showcase of what was coming up; along with the odd token tracks from 2012’s self-titled (Rabbit Hole, Trembling Hands) or 2016’s Thick As Thieves (the solitary Alive), over half the set came from the afore-mentioned masterpiece, much to the crowd’s obvious delight. And, although a few were missed — from a personal standpoint, we’re suckers for So Much Sky — complaints were undoubtedly few and far between.
Frontman Dougy Mandagi’s falsetto vocals were as entrancing as ever, whether in the almost insidiously haunting Rabbit Hole or the catchy Science of Fear, and you were reminded just why it was such an outrage that the band had been gone so long — they’re bloody fantastic. A particular highlight was that haunting introduction to Soldier On, the delicate falsetto and gentle strumming of a guitar falling on the spell-bound London crowd — though the vocals didn’t seem to matter when it came to the ever-explosive The Drum Song, Mandagi’s pipes traded for another set of sticks as the joined Dundas on drumming duty.
Though, not everything was about looking back, with the band also offering an amuse-l’oreille by way of both their two newest singles — the explosive, aggressively catchy ear-worm of an anthem Giving Up Air and the more foreboding, fuzzily heavy Lucky Dimes — along with a trio of unreleased tracks. Mandagi even lent his distinctive lilt to Moby’s Extreme Ways, which was a surprising highlight. Surprising both that it took the spot of what could have been another The Temper Trap song, but also in just how well it worked.
And of course, who can forget Sweet Disposition? If you’re going to be a band known for just the one song, there are a hell of a lot of worse songs you could choose. Let’s just say it’s still just as special now as it was back in 2008, even if seeing the multitude of miniature groups singing the track by way of the hundreds of cell phones wasn’t as prevalent last time the group played London.
Speaking of playing London, let’s hope it won’t be another nine years before we see them again, eh? 9/10
