Columbia Records // Courtesy
Tame Impala's newest album is certainly fun to listen to, but its surface-level feelings lack any deeper impact.
It’s been five years since Tame Impala released his last studio album, “The Slow Rush,” to generally positive reviews from critics and audiences alike. Kevin Parker has now returned to the mainstage, emerging from another half a decade hiatus to release Tame Impala’s fifth studio album, “Deadbeat.”
Right away, Parker opens with the jazz-style piano vamp, “My Old Ways,” coming in with his signature falsetto and thumping synth beats as he proclaims, “thought I would never go back, but just this once.” A rather ironic lyric, seeing as looping, catchy songs with falsetto vocals form the majority of this album and Parker’s discography at large. Nonetheless, his proclamation of return is true in a sense, and he’s got another 11 tracks behind the opener to show off what he’s done in the meantime.
The album follows predictably, to say the least. Some tracks have their standout moments: the high-pitched melody on “Dracula,” an admittedly fantastic beat drop on “Not my World” and an unforgettable synth bassline on “Afterthought” stand out. For the most part, though, there’s nothing revolutionary to be found here. This album is the furthest departure from indie rock that Tame Impala has ever put out, but it sounds like the logical conclusion of Parker’s discography — leaning further into electronic music as his career has progressed.
That EDM lean comes to a head in “Ethereal Connection,” which would be likely to be heard in a club or at a music festival. Bumping 808s and synthesizer hi-hats background an almost purely electronic composition, alongside Parker’s classic spacey vocals. This seven-minute behemoth of a song outpaces most of the album’s other entries by almost double, as does “End of Summer,” though the latter is much more similar to the album’s other tracks.
Ultimately, despite diving into EDM with “Ethereal Connection” and producing music that is pleasant to listen to, Parker has done nothing truly noteworthy in this new installment of his discography. Instead, having seemingly found his footing and where he wants his music to hit, Parker has chosen to continue producing work in line with that which has previously found critical acclaim.