So I finally got around to listening to The Temper Trap’s debut album Conditions (2009) and want to highlight the first track: “Love Lost.”
Typical of most songs from these Aussies, “Love Lost” is grounded on a constant pulsing beat that builds the track into a dramatic, sweeping U2-esque conglomerate of guitar, echoes, and Dougie Mandagi’s fantastic falsetto. I’m a sucker for handclaps, so I love the ones that come in from the beginning and sneak their way into the spaces between verses and chorus.
It’s actually the buildup to the chorus (which consists mostly of some repeated variation on the line “Our love was lost, but now we’ve found it.”) that I like better than the dramatic burst of guitar that follows. Without the pulse and claps, “Love Lost” would be a little too epic and cliched – just like its name sounds. It’s in the quieter segments that Mandagi’s voice can really undulate and wow, and that’s ultimately what might give Temper Trap some staying power.
Photo: last.fm
