Re-shaping their perception, Kettering 4-piece Temples today serve up their brand new single ‘Vendetta’, taken from their forthcoming new studio album BLISS - out June 26th on V2 Records - and one that flies in new electronic directions, while staying true to their core DNA, making it their most adventurous and liberated record to date.
Following their supreme first offering ‘Jet Stream Heart’, which arrived to instant critical acclaim from the likes of the NME, The Times & Clash, whilst being added to the Virgin Radio playlist as well as heavy rotation on BBC 6 Music, Vendetta’ perfectly marries scuzzy riffs with lasering synths and a bubbling, dancefloor-ready melody. Originally conceived as two separate ideas, the song only found its true identity when the band fused its contrasting halves together, resulting in something thrillingly unpredictable - Listen here & watch video here.
Built to jolt the listener into motion, ‘Vendetta’ embodies the album’s core spirit - a sensory rush that feels both resistant and irresistible, pulling you in multiple directions at once. As frontman James Bagshaw explains,“Suddenly, you had this almost Justice-Daft Punk-sounding sample that then goes into something that could be a modern take on dance music, like a David Guetta or Avicii song.”
The new album marks an exciting new chapter following 2023’s Exotico, and sees the band reimagine their psych-rock roots through the prism of late ’90s and early 2000s dance music, drawing on the euphoric melancholy of the Ibiza scene and European electronica while staying true to the band’s core DNA. Influenced by the emotional pull of artists like Faithless, Underworld, Massive Attack and Portishead, BLISS taps into what Temples describe as “melancholic euphoria” - simple structures giving rise to complex feeling.
Where on Exotico, the band worked with guest producer Sean Ono Lennon, this time it felt like BLISS could only be produced by Temples themselves, embracing a more instinctive, hands-on approach. Working together in the same room, they leaned into improvisation and experimentation, using samplers not to rework other artists’ material, but to manipulate and reassemble their own songs into a shared sonic palette. The result is an album that feels collage-like and interconnected, with motifs and textures flowing across tracks.
The band will also make their live return with four headline dates in the UK for November, including London’s Scala, as well as an appearance at this year’s Latitude Festival in the summer. Temples will also be touring extensively in the US & Europe (full dates & tickets here).
For Temples, BLISS is more than just a stylistic shift - it’s a statement of intent. A record made without compromise, driven by instinct, chemistry and the joy of making music together again
5 NOVEMBER LIVE @ BOTANIQUE, BRUSSELS