Born in Vordingborg in the Zealand region of Denmark, Trentemøller started out ...
a number of single productions. In 2006 he released his debut album, The Last Resort; the song "Vamp" from that album was played in Eastbound & Down: Chapter 2 during a dance scene.
In the summer of 2008 Trentemøller started a live tour: "Trentemøller Live in Concert". Trentemøller and band (Henrik Vibskov on drums and Mikael Simpson on guitar and bass) performed tracks from the album The Last Resort live on stage, with visuals provided by video director Karim Ghahwagi. The tour included the Glastonbury (UK), Melt! (Germany), Lowlands (Netherlands) and Roskilde (Denmark) festivals and was followed by Trentemøller's first concerts in the United States.
His Essential Mix for BBC Radio 1 was voted Essential Mix of the Year by listeners in 2006.
In 2008 he composed the soundtrack for the Danish movie Det Som Ingen Ved (What No One Knows).
In 2010 he released his second album, Into the Great Wide Yonder. The song "Shades of Marble" from that album was played in the trailer for Pedro Almodovar's The Skin I Live In and in the film itself.