Release Date: February 14
4 out of 5 stars
Reviewer: Thomas Smith
You have to feel a little bit for Tame Impala. It wasn’t Kevin Parker’s intention to be coronated the saviour of rock on a mainstream level, but – for better or worse – that’s what happened.
As genres started collapsing into themselves in the last decade’s second half – rock into electronic, pop into hip-hop – there Parker stood in the middle of it all, guitar in hand.
Following 2012’s mainstream breakthrough ‘Lonerism’, their third album ‘Currents’ established them as rare modern guitar heroes making the leap to festival headline slots.
It remains an unfair burden. Interviewers have recently found Parker keen to move the conversation away from the rock saviour narrative.
Speaking to Billboard, he made it clear that his ambitions lay in the pop battlefield, explaining that “writing a catchy, sugary pop song” is “the yin to the yang of psychedelic rock”.
Instead, he wants to “be a Max Martin”, a reference to one of the most celebrated songwriter this side of the millennium, whose credits include work with Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift and The Weekend.
Since ‘Currents’, Parker has become a voguish producer adored by hip-hop titans – from Kanye West to A$AP Rocky– and pop heavyweights such as Lady Gaga (he co-wrote some of her rootsy 2016 album ‘Joanne’).
His horizons have broadened beyond a home-studio in Melbourne – he’s now in the thick of LA’s music scene.
It seems there were endless moving parts and inner-conflicts rattling Parker’s mind in the five-year gap between ‘Currents’ and Tame Impala’s fourth album, ‘The Slow Rush’. He’d hoped to have the album out to coincide with their headline appearance at Coachella last Spring.
That didn’t materialise and he’s since admitted that work only really began towards the end of 2018. Well, fans’ expectations have been dizzyingly high: it’s little wonder that this album has such a large gestation period.
