Latest Release
- SEP 27, 2024
- 5 Songs
- Currents · 2015
- Currents · 2015
- The Slow Rush · 2019
- Currents · 2015
- Currents · 2015
- The Slow Rush · 2020
- Lonerism · 2012
- Currents · 2015
- The Slow Rush · 2020
- The Slow Rush · 2020
Essential Albums
- Tame Impala may have been forged in the familiar fires of guitar-driven psych-rock, but Kevin Parker began expanding that brief almost immediately, shifting from dank, distorted solos to widescreen, synth-swept fantasias. By the time Currents arrived in 2015, the Fremantle home-studio whiz had made his grandest leap yet, offering his particular take on outsized, club-ready pop. That meant mostly sidelining guitars and ramping up the lead role of those synths. Parker had always made Tame Impala records as a solo endeavor, using a proper band primarily to realize songs in a live setting. Yet this third album saw him applying more painstaking control than ever before, not just playing and writing every single part but recording and mixing the entire thing as well. Even fans who had noticed Parker’s increasing pop sensibilities across 2012’s Lonerism were somewhat taken aback by Currents’ bravura opening statement, “Let It Happen,” an ambitious dance-floor epic that foregrounded glitter-bomb synths and alternately dipping and peaking rhythms. The band’s trajectory changed over the course of a single track, which stretches out over nearly eight minutes and indulges in remix-style record-skipping and lengthy stretches without vocals. Between the disco grooves, Parker still finds time for Tame Impala’s sonic signatures—floaty vocals, soul-searching lyrics, fleeting interludes. As lush as the production is (which you can hear in the joyous vocal layering and panning on “The Moment”), the increased scope of these songs is matched by the same rich emotional content, making it feel like Parker is sharing his most private moments. From the vulnerability displayed on “Yes I’m Changing,” which muses on growing older against unironic soft-rock motifs, to his interrogations of masculinity and romance on “'Cause I’m a Man,” Parker is still committed to airing intimate, almost diary-like sentiments. Meditative album closer “New Person, Same Old Mistakes” says it all. Still, Parker doesn’t have to distance himself from formative heroes like Todd Rundgren and The Flaming Lips in the name of artistic growth. Evoking the mirror-ball dazzle of roller rinks and discos, here he continues to cherry-pick from the past in order to imagine a sophisticated musical future that’s appealing across multiple fronts but still strikes directly at the heart. And the risky decision to shelve guitars clearly paid off: Currents took Tame Impala to the big leagues, where he could now collaborate with Lady Gaga, get covered by Rihanna (a version of “New Person, Same Old Mistakes” appeared as “Same Ol’ Mistakes” on 2016’s ANTI), and headline Coachella. It also provided a natural progression to 2020’s The Slow Rush, an even more immersive and personal synth-funk odyssey.
Albums
- 2010
Artist Playlists
- Kevin Parker's reverb-heavy indie tracks float along like a lazy, psychedelic river.
- Time-travel through decades of hypnotic psych-pop explorations.
- His radiant hooks and richness of space extend far beyond Tame Impala.
Live Albums
Compilations
Appears On
- Theophilus London
- Theophilus London
- Kevin Parker tells the story of Tame Impala's debut album.
- Kevin Parker joins Matt to discuss 10 years of 'InnerSpeaker.'
- Elton John chats with Kevin Parker, aka Tame Impala, in Perth.
- Kevin Parker joins Matt to talk through his 5 Best Songs.
- The singer-songwriter's latest track, "Describe" is added.
- Kevin Parker picks the 5 Best songs on Apple Music.
- Interviews with Justin Bieber, Tame Impala, and Sam Smith.
More To See
About Tame Impala
Tame Impala transformed psychedelic rock—and 21st century pop—in such an impactful way that even Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and Kanye couldn’t resist the band's influence. The brainchild of Australian musician Kevin Parker, Tame Impala serve as both a blistering and blissed-out exercise in expansion—of sound, space, and the mind. “I’m the most creative when I’m uncomfortable,” Parker told Apple Music. “The idea of doing what I’m already good at is boring because it’s always gotta be a little bit frightening.” That fear has been a powerful motivator for Parker, who started Tame Impala in 2007 from his Perth home. His appetite for guitar experimentation—powered by an arsenal of reverb, phaser, delay, and fuzz pedals—made his 2010 debut album, InnerSpeaker, one of the year’s standout indie releases. On 2012’s Lonerism, he loaded up on synths, found inspiration in Todd Rundgren, and locked into woozy pop grooves made of both dreams (“Be Above It”) and nightmares (“Feels Like We Only Go Backwards”). He also got far more personal. As Parker has looked further inward, his music—and musical circle—has continued to expand outward. By the mid-2010s, he was collaborating with Mark Ronson, producing Gaga, and inspiring Rihanna (who covered “New Person, Same Old Mistakes”). But Tame Impala has remained his “sacred space,” an outlet that has allowed him to embrace funk (2015’s Currents), dance music (2020’s The Slow Rush), and all the infinite possibilities yet to be discovered.
- ORIGIN
- Perth, Australia
- FORMED
- 2007
- GENRE
- Alternative