Temples Announce ‘Exotico,’ Share ‘Cicada’
The album was produced by Sean Ono Lennon.
Temples have shared their delirious new single, “Cicada,” available now at all DSPs and streaming services. 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 14. Pre-orders are available now.
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.”
Temples’ fourth studio album and first full-length recording since 2019’s acclaimed Hot Motion, Exotico was heralded last month by the stratospheric first single, “Gamma Rays,” available now at all DSPs and streaming services. An official music video, directed by filmmaker Molly Daniel (Nilüfer Yanya) is streaming now as well.
“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. North American dates will be announced soon.
