Los Angeles Satanic doo-wop’ duo Twin Temple made their US late night TV debut on The Daily Show last night (July 29) and called for “a little more Satanic Panic” in the modern world.
The husband-and-wife duo, Zachary and Alexandra James, were booked on the show to perform Haunt Me from their forthcoming third album, Doomed Lovers, and to talk about their controversial removal, earlier this month, from two shows with country musician Charley Crockett, who objected to their Satanic presentation.
“We were pretty shocked,” Zachary James admits to host Jordan Klepper.
“I feel like it’s time for maybe a little more Satanic Panic,” adds Alexandra James. “Like, let’s get it going again.”
When Klepper asks the duo what it means to be Satanists in the modern world, Alexandra James replies, “I think a lot of people think that Satanism is going to orgies and you’re nude under the full moon, drinking chalices of blood and hanging out with goats. And, I mean, we’re here to say that’s absolutely true. That’s what Satanism is.”
“I think, on the daily, it’s like living wilfully,” adds Zachary James. “Every day is the day we wake up and we get to live our true will. We get to make art. We get to do what we love. So to us, that is Satanism, being the individuals we are, like, know thyself, and being able to carry that out every day.”
Twin Temple will release Doomed Lovers, 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 said in a press statement when announcing the record. “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 added. “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.”
Watch their performance of Haunt Me below.
And watch their interview with Jordan Klepper below.
