Rating: 9/10

Highlights: Let It Happen, Yes, I’m Changing, The Less I Know the Better, Past Life

*Explicit Content*

Back in 2010, a psychedelic rock band from Western Australia appeared on the indie rock scene with their debut album, Innerspeaker. This album trademarked their place in the Pitchfork-surfing, Rough Trade-buying indie rock scene of the early 2010s. Some of the songs that gave them this place include “Solitude is Bliss” and “Why Won’t You Make Up Your Mind?” which stood out as modern, yet perfectly dated psych rock tracks in the age of indietronica. They made their way to the Grammys with their 2012 album, Lonerism gaining a nod for Best Alternative Album. Everyone who knows what’s going in the indie music scene knows who I’m talking about and they’ve done it again with their latest summer release, Currents. Tame Impala’s most recent record strays away from the guitar fueled sound we’ve come to know and creates a more palpable and, dare I say, fun, listening experience. And this is coming from someone who has fallen asleep in the middle of listening to a Tame album.

Released in July 2015, Currents opens with lead single “Let It Happen”, which served as a summer bop for fans. It really was not fair for Kevin Parker to start this album with one of the overall tracks of 2015. But he does, and the snaring drums and rhythmic bass lets you know that you’re about to go on a trip. Parker matter-o-factly begins the song with “it’s always all around me/all this noise”, which almost sounds like a well-planned out shade at the fuzzy, buzzy lo-fi music Tame Impala has been known for.

I probably would have fallen asleep while listening to second track “Nangs”, but clocking in at only 1:48 minutes, there’s really barely enough time for that. With “Nangs”, Kevin Parker does a good job at creating more of a sonic soundscape rather than a song. This track takes you through a dream pop inspired soundboard overlaid with an acoustic instrument background. Funny enough, the sole lyrics to this song are “But is there something more than that?”, a question I’ve asked myself many times listening to this song.

There isn’t enough time to fall asleep during “Nangs”, because you are instantly greeted by the repetitive percussion of “The Moment”. In “The Moment”, we hear the crashing of synth organ sounds, tweeting noises, and electronic ringing noises alongside Kevin Parker’s layered vocals. Again, very little instrumentation. While Parker makes it known that this really isn’t your mother’s psychedelic rock album, the song has one “Elephant”-esque guitar riff repeated towards the end.

“Yes, I’m Changing” is truly one of the stand out tracks of the album. Starting off like a typical Tame track with a thumping drumbeat, the song expositions with a floaty new wave-styled melody. Kevin Parker coos to a special someone about moving towards the future and becoming a different person. One line in this song seems to sum up Tame Impala’s musical thesis for this record: “They say people never change, but that’s bulls**t, they do”.

“Eventually” is a down-tempo psych pop track experimenting with more deep bass and synthesizers, which by the sounds, of it are going to become the standard for the new Tame Impala. “Eventually” also outros serenely with high-pitched electronic piano into “Gossip”, or as I’d like to dub it, “Nangs” pt. 2. Another track coming in at a minute or less, “Gossip” is more or less a transitioning piece, and less of the production tableau that “Nangs” was. But, I digress.

“The Less I Know the Better” brings in more of the groove that was teased in “Let It Happen”. Kevin Parker lays a sweet Motown-esque bassline under his velvety high register vocals. This track is inherently a funk pop song, but less in the vein of “Uptown Funk” and more down the path of Rubber Soul. “Past Life” is really where Kevin Parker interpolates the tricks that he’s learned in the studio. Parker plays with voice pitching and interesting keyboard melodies to create an extended interlude track that serves as a transition between the first and second parts of the album. He even goes as far to include a trap breakdown, looking to artists like Yeezus himself, who Parker has claimed he has looked to for inspiration multiple times.

“Disciples”, in itself, was a basic indie rock song, borrowing riffs from the post-punk revival groups of the early 2000s. This song gets most of its poetic inspiration from moving on from an apparently toxic relationship/friendship, which is where most of the lyrical content of this album stems from anyway. Although it was one of my favorite tracks on the album when I first listened, it’s artistically weak for the group who has since been known for masterpieces like “Feels Like We’re Only Going Backwards”.

Hazy R&B follows us into “‘Cause I’m A Man”, where Parker puts his slick falsetto to work with a marching band beat and reverb-dripped guitar. This time, however, Tame’s aforementioned hazy, dazey groove is slow and paced. This song is glittered throughout with tinkling xylophone which stands aside the low pitched balladry. “Reality in Motion” is yet another hypnotic Tame Impala song that would probably be lost on you if you listened to the album in one sitting.

The last two tracks, “Love/Paranoia” and “New Person, Same Mistakes” are two songs that are quite different, but still fundamentally similar. “Love/Paranoia” opens with a slow electronica groove littered with snaps and handclaps that sound that it could be an instrumental for a song on the next Kendrick Lamar record. However, Parker doesn’t start rapping about how he has wanted money and power all his life. Kevin Parker is, emotionally, a romantic and croons apologies to his “babe” and his “girl”. Closer “New Person, Same Mistakes” is a song about a love interest, but rather than a low-key pop ballad, Kevin Parker whips out his sitar. The album ends with several keyboard flourishes that serve as foreshadowing for what Tame Impala may do next.

Stylistically, Kevin Parker continues to stun. This entire album was composed, performed, recorded, produced AND mixed by Kevin Parker himself. And still, Tame Impala as a band happens to remain consistently on point. If you’ve ever seen a live performance of them on YouTube, you’d know this. Kevin Parker puts together an impressive record and impressive band. The vanity project of some guy from some place in the Pacific Ocean has ended being one of the most acclaimed musical artists of the decade. I don’t think I’ve ever quite “stanned” Tame Impala, but everyone who knows them knows just how good they really are.

In a way, “Tame” being used as the term of endearment (or at least, a shorter version of the band name) by fans is pleasantly apropos. It’s not quite JLO featuring Pitbull, but Kevin Parker and co. show that they’ve got something for you to move to. Tame Impala has “tamed” their sound in order to make music that can be enjoyed by the masses, whether it be at home or some hole-in-the-wall club. The production is spectacular, and it shows. Yet at the same time, they retain their uniqueness in the music world. Currents, in all, does a good job at keeping the flow going.