The Temper Trap have returned to the top of the ARIA Australian albums chart with Sungazer, the Melbourne band's fourth record and its first in a decade. Released on 10 July through Mushroom, the album debuted at number one on the chart for the week of 20 July and entered the all-genre ARIA Top 50 Albums at number nine.
It is the band's first album since Thick as Thieves in 2016. The Temper Trap broke through in 2009 with Conditions and the single Sweet Disposition, which became one of the most licensed Australian songs of its era and turned up in films and advertising around the world. Conditions itself peaked at number nine on the ARIA chart, the same position Sungazer has now debuted at on the all-genre list. Their self-titled 2012 album and Thick as Thieves both went one better and reached number one, so the new record sits below those peaks even as it tops the separate Australian-artist chart.
The gap between the two numbers is a quirk of how ARIA counts. The Top 50 Albums chart ranks every release sold in Australia in a given week, local or imported, while the Australian-artist chart lists only home-grown acts. A record can lead the second without troubling the top of the first, which is where Sungazer landed for the week.
The main chart told a busier story. Olivia Rodrigo held number one for a fourth non-consecutive week, and the Rolling Stones debuted at number two with Foreign Tongues. On the singles side, Ella Langley's Choosin' Texas kept the top spot for a sixth straight week.
Australian acts held their ground further down the singles chart. Tame Impala's Dracula stayed on top of the Australian-artist singles chart in its 42nd week, ninth on the all-genre chart, with G Flip's Bed on Fire close behind.
Sungazer arrives after years of speculation about whether the band would record together again. The group, fronted by Dougy Mandagi, released it through Mushroom, and it returns them to a chart they last led nine years ago. A debut at the top of the Australian chart is a strong opening, though release week is usually where a returning act posts its best numbers.
The next ARIA chart, dated 27 July, will show whether Sungazer holds its number one on the Australian chart or slips back, as debut albums often do once the release-week rush fades.
