Sweet Disposition — The Temper Trap
An indie anthem from Melbourne, remixed by a Swede and a Serbian-Australian: how Axwell & Dirty South took Sweet Disposition to No. 1 on US dance radio.
- Original by Melbourne band The Temper Trap, written by Dougy Mandagi and Lorenzo Sillitto, first released in 2008.
- Remixed by Axwell and Dirty South; No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Airplay chart in April 2010.
- Nominated for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical at the 53rd Grammy Awards.
“Sweet Disposition” was an indie rock song before it was a club record. The Axwell & Dirty South remix took The Temper Trap’s falsetto anthem onto progressive house dance floors, reached No. 1 on US dance radio in 2010 and earned both producers a Grammy nomination.
An indie anthem from Melbourne
The Temper Trap formed in Melbourne in 2005 and moved to London in 2008. Singer Dougy Mandagi, born in Indonesia, wrote “Sweet Disposition” with Lorenzo Sillitto. Liberation released it in Australia as a digital single on 16 September 2008. Re-recorded with producer Jim Abbiss and reissued in 2009, it became the lead single of the debut album Conditions, released on Glassnote in the US and Infectious in the UK, where it reached No. 6 in October 2009. A place on the (500) Days of Summer soundtrack the same year pushed it further.
Two producers, one remix
Axwell, born Axel Hedfors in Sweden in 1977, ran his own label, Axtone, and was one third of Swedish House Mafia with Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso. Dirty South, born Dragan Roganović in Belgrade in 1978 and based in Melbourne, like the band, had already worked with him on “Open Your Heart”, sung by Rudy and released through Vicious and Axtone.
Charts and the Grammy nomination
The remix reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Airplay chart in April 2010. At the 53rd Grammy Awards, held in Los Angeles on 13 February 2011, Axwell and Dirty South were nominated for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical. It was Dirty South’s second nomination in the category, after his remix of Kaskade’s “Sorry”.
The song itself kept growing. It won Most Popular Australian Single at the 2010 ARIA Music Awards, peaked at No. 3 on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart and went platinum in the US and four times platinum in the UK. Advertisers loved it too: it soundtracked campaigns for Center Parcs and O2 in 2009 and a Diet Coke spot during the 2010 Academy Awards.
Later versions
The idea of “Sweet Disposition” as a dance record did not end with Axwell and Dirty South. In May 2025 Lost Frequencies and The Temper Trap released “Sweet Disposition (A Moment, a Love)” on Lost & Cie, produced by Lost Frequencies; it reached No. 6 in Flanders. Dirty South, for his part, went on to release his albums Speed of Life, With You and XV on Phazing Records.
In the mix
The remix keeps what made the original work, Mandagi’s falsetto and the rising chorus, and sets it over a long progressive house build. It still works as a late singalong in a melodic set.
FAQ
Who remixed Sweet Disposition?
Swedish DJ Axwell, of Swedish House Mafia, and Serbian-Australian producer Dirty South (Dragan Roganović).
Was the Sweet Disposition remix nominated for a Grammy?
Yes. It was nominated for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical at the 53rd Grammy Awards, held in February 2011.
Who wrote Sweet Disposition?
The Temper Trap’s Dougy Mandagi and Lorenzo Sillitto. Jim Abbiss produced the original.
