Pulse Music Magazine
Temples have shared their delirious new single, “Cicada.” Produced by labelmate Sean Ono Lennon and mixed by GRAMMY® Award-winner Dave Fridmann (The Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, MGMT), “Cicada” heralds the British psychedelic rock quartet’s long awaited new album, Exotico, arriving everywhere via ATO Records on Friday, April 14th.
One of Exotico’s most explosive tracks, “Cicada” serves as a frenetic meditation on rebirth and renewal, fueled by furious drumming, dizzying strings, and the distinctive sound of a Marvin – a copper percussion instrument Temples lead singer/guitarist James Bagshaw describes as “something out of a steampunk museum.”
“‘Cicada’ came from being inspired by the sound of cicadas,” says Temples’ Thomas Walmsley, “and the idea of emerging from the underground after a long time of being suppressed. We were attempting to turn that sound into a sort of dance rhythm, and once we started working with Sean we really built up the production by digging into his cupboard of keyboards and synths.”
“You never really see cicadas,” adds Bagshaw, “but you can imagine them having a frantic life, and to me that song feels like a huge army of them whipped into a frenzy.”
Exotico marks the band’s most far-reaching collection thus far, a 16-track panoramic musical travelogue set beyond the horizon on an impossibly utopic island where every song serves as a different stop along the atoll, from beaches with azure blue waters to forest canopies enveloped in rare birdsong. Recorded in studios in London, Brighton, and Worcestershire, songs like “Afterlife” and “Oval Stones” see Temples – with additional multi-instrumental and vocal accompaniment from Lennon as well as extra vocals from Charlotte Kemp Muhl (The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger) – painting visionary new vistas with cascading melodic waterfalls, contemplative lyrical exploration, and an imaginative creative wanderlust unlike anything previously heard in the band’s already ambitious body of work.
“This record is essentially something we made for ourselves to find joy in at the time we were making it,” says James Bagshaw. “There are songs to dance to, songs to reflect with, and through that we ended up delving into every aspect of our musical vocabulary.”
Temples – who recently completed a sold-out run of small UK club shows to road-test the new album – will celebrate the arrival of Exotico with a sweeping international live schedule. For complete details, visit www.templestheband.com/live.
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