‘Lucky Dimes’ is the first new music for The Temper Trap in nine years.
“Good to know that 9 years after the last one, we still have something to say. It’s been an absolute pleasure creating this record and we can’t wait to share it with you, not to relive the past but to write the next chapter,” says singer Dougy Mandagi.
‘Lucky Dimes’ was produced by Styalz Fuego (Troye Sivan, Charli XCX, The Knocks, Khalid). ‘Lucky Dimes’ was co-written with Styalz and mixed by revered English producer and engineer Spike Stent.
The Temper Trap’s story begins in Melbourne’s indie crucible of the mid-2000s, when singer-guitarist Dougy Mandagi, bassist Jonathon Aherne and drummer Toby Dundas started shaping widescreen anthems in rehearsal rooms and on the city’s small-venue circuit. A chance retail-floor friendship (Mandagi and Dundas worked together at a clothing store) grew into a band; soon they recruited guitarist Lorenzo Sillitto and released a self-titled EP in late 2006 through Liberation Music. Those early gigs—Laneway Festival sets, V Festival appearances, relentless club dates—honed a sound that married glassy guitar lines to Mandagi’s airborne falsetto, equal parts intimacy and uplift. Melbourne nurtured their craft; ambition sent them abroad. In 2008 the group decamped to London, embedding themselves in the UK’s A&R and festival ecosystem just as buzz was starting to build.
The relocation paid off quickly. The Temper Trap finished their debut album, Conditions (2009), with producer Jim Abbiss (Arctic Monkeys, Adele), a choice that framed their songs with a panoramic, radio-ready sheen. The album’s signature song, “Sweet Disposition,” had actually surfaced in Australia the year prior, but a 2009 re-recording and re-issue turned it into a global calling card. Propelled by its place in the film (500) Days of Summer and omnipresent syncs, “Sweet Disposition” broke the band across Europe and beyond—cracking the UK Top 10 and peaking at No. 14 at home—while Conditions climbed into the ARIA Top 10 and the UK Top 30. By the end of 2010 they’d collected ARIA Awards for Best Group and Most Popular Australian Single and an APRA Song of the Year for “Sweet Disposition.” Festival slots—Glastonbury, Roskilde, Reading & Leeds—and a first headlining U.S. tour followed, cementing the band’s reputation as an Australian export with real international pull.
If Conditions introduced The Temper Trap as architects of cathedral-sized indie rock, 2012’s self-titled The Temper Trap broadened the palette. Written and recorded amid heavy touring, it pushed deeper into glossy, synth-brushed textures without abandoning the band’s emotive core. Lead singles “Need Your Love” and “Trembling Hands” showcased a bolder rhythmic pulse and stadium-scale choruses; the album debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA chart and performed strongly in the UK and Europe, while the group doubled down on marquee stages, opening for Coldplay and later supporting the Rolling Stones. That same year, they repeated their ARIA Best Group win and added Best Rock Album. The period also brought a personnel change: original lead guitarist Lorenzo Sillitto departed in 2013, with multi-instrumentalist Joseph Greer stepping forward on lead duties.
After a regrouping and writing phase, The Temper Trap returned with Thick as Thieves (2016), a back-to-basics set that re-centred guitar interplay and Mandagi’s falsetto lift. Singles “Fall Together” and the title track reconnected with the band’s urgent, pulsing heart—hooks designed to bloom under festival skies. The campaign found them back on big stages (including support for Imagine Dragons in 2018), and the songs slotted neatly alongside “Sweet Disposition” as end-of-night singalongs at home and abroad.
The band’s legacy has continued to ripple far beyond its initial wave. “Sweet Disposition” has become a modern indie standard—periodically surging back into charts and playlists, enjoying fresh remixes and collaborations—while The Temper Trap’s catalogue remains a reliable source of cinematic melancholy and uplift for film, sport, and TV producers (from AFL Grand Final appearances to State of Origin pre-game performances). And in a welcome twist for longtime fans, 2025 has ushered in a new chapter: the announcement—and now release—of “Lucky Dimes,” the band’s first original single in nine years, teasing a refreshed creative pulse from a group that has always balanced patience with precision.
Through it all, the DNA has stayed recognisable: Melbourne-born work ethic, a London-honed sense for scale, and a songwriting compass fixed on emotion that soars without tipping into bombast. The Temper Trap’s musical history is, in essence, the story of an indie band that learned to translate intimacy for the big screen—and kept finding new audiences willing to be swept up in the lift.
Albums:
• Conditions — 2009. Debut LP produced with Jim Abbiss; broke internationally on the strength of “Sweet Disposition.”
• The Temper Trap — 2012. ARIA No. 1; includes “Need Your Love,” “Trembling Hands.”
• Thick as Thieves — 2016. Guitar-forward return featuring “Fall Together” and the title track.
EPs
• The Temper Trap (EP) — 2006. First official release on Liberation, recorded with producer Scott Horscroft.
Key Singles:
• “Sweet Disposition” — 2008 (original AU release); re-issued 2009, chart breakthroughs in UK/Europe and ARIA Top 20.
• “Science of Fear” — 2009. Early UK traction around the Conditions campaign.
• “Fader” — 2009/2010 (released in different territories across the album cycle).
• “Love Lost” — 2009/2010. Continued Conditions momentum.
• “Need Your Love” — 2012. Lead single from The Temper Trap.
• “Trembling Hands” — 2012. Follow-up single, Triple J Hottest 100 placement.
• “The Sea Is Calling” — 2012. Third single in some markets.
• “Thick as Thieves” — 2016. Lead single for the third album.
• “Fall Together” — 2016. Second single, a fan favourite live.
• “So Much Sky” — 2016 (standalone track/video released around the Thick as Thieves era).
• “Lucky Dimes” — 2025. First new original single in nine years.
Awards:
• ARIA Awards: Best Group (2010; 2012) and Most Popular Australian Single for “Sweet Disposition” (2010); Best Rock Album for The Temper Trap (2012).
• APRA Song of the Year: “Sweet Disposition” (2010).
