Satan-loving doo-wop duo Twin Temple have announced the forthcoming release of their third album, Doomed Lovers, and shared its title track.
The Los Angeles-based husband-and-wife, Zachary and Alexandra James, will release the album, produced by Shooter Jennings at LA’s legendary Sunset Sound studio, on October 9 on their own label, Pentagrammaton Records.
“We poured everything into this new record,” the duo say. “We wanted to push ourselves creatively and expand the production further than we have before, drawing inspiration from the lush orchestral productions of Roy Orbison, The Ronettes and The Shangri-Las and added in some Countrypolitan flair. We brought in some incredible musicians like Matt Chamberlain and Jay Bellerose and a 37-piece orchestra. We wanted to make something as beautiful as we possibly could – of course with our dark spin on things.
“The truth is, this album was made during one of the darkest periods of our lives,” the pair reveal. “We had been struggling with grief, health issues, addiction, and depression. But day by day, going into Sunset Sound, making music with incredible people who believed in us, and being surrounded by that creativity slowly brought us back to life.”
As a taste of what to expect from the record, Twin Temple have shared its title track.
“This is the philosophical centerpiece of the album,” they say, “a theatrical and confessional take on all or nothing love, the dark side of devotion and centuries old mythic literary Romantic themes. It longs for a love so enduring and eternal that it ultimately consumes, obliterates, and drives one to madness and death. At its core, it asks the question, ‘What happens when your lover dies?’ But what makes the song unique is that it rejects the conventional and culturally accepted answer – ‘I know I should tell you to find someone new/ – in favor of raw, unfiltered and selfish desire, things that would be shameful to speak in mundane reality.”
Last week, Twin Temple made headlines when they were kicked off two shows with country musician Charley Crockett, due to the headline act’s opposition to their Satanic presentation.
They then made further headlines when Jack White got in contact via social media to invite them to open for him at an upcoming LA show.
White wrote: “Twin Temple, would you like to open my show in L.A. on September 29th at the Hollywood Palladium? Let me know. Get in front of me Satan!” he added, a nod to The White Stripes’ 2005 album Get Behind Me Satan.
Twin Temple responded to the offer on White’s Instagram, writing: “Unholy hell…. Sir Jack, you have no idea what this means to us. Lifelong fans- dead leaves on the dirty ground was one of the first songs I (Alex) ever learned on guitar. We were actually planning on coming to this show. It would be a most infernal pleasure to play the devils music with you.”
Asked by Rolling Stone if they are genuine Satanist, Alexandra James replies, “Hell yeah! To us, Satan is a metaphor for exploring all of these things in our art. It’s the images that have always resonated with us. For me, growing up a mixed-race woman [of Korean and British descent], first generation in America, I’ve always felt a little bit like an outsider. And Satan’s the original outlaw, right? He’s a rebel angel. He’s the one who questioned authority, fought for himself, refused to bow down or conform, and was like non serviam. That was a metaphor that resonated very strongly with me.”