Listeners finally got what they have been waiting for from Tame Impala on Friday with the release of “Deadbeat,” an album that has been in the works for about five years.
Usually, album delays mean that the artist has something simmering under the surface that we cannot see nor does the artist want us to see. Tame Impala, the brainchild of Australian multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker, yearned for that with his most recent release.
In an interview promoting his last genre-bending album, “The Slow Rush,” in 2020, Parker vowed that his next project wouldn’t take as long as his previous albums, all of which being released within two to five year increments of each other. Two years later, he proclaimed the same sentiment, even going as far as to say that it would be “done sooner than what has been the pattern for me.”
For months prior, fans have been hanging onto the singles that Tame Impala released with intentional timing. The lead single of the album, “End of Summer,” came out during the last days of July, paying homage to its namesake. Follow-up tracks “Loser” and “Dracula” were released on separate ends of September, the former accompanied by a video featuring fellow musician with an alter ego, Joe Kerry, known artistically as Djo.
Parker tapped into his Aussie heritage to set the scene of this project. He brings us sounds from the land down under with bush doof (a type of Australian outdoor party featuring electronic music) laced production and chillwave styles.
“Deadbeat” feels like watching someone stumble into a midnight rave scene without any idea of when the dawn will come. Throughout the album, Tame Impala journeys across dance subgenres in a way that will make listeners want to hit the dancefloor and feel every beating of the bass.
Moments in the album like “Ethereal Connection” definitely feel like that where words are rare, relying on the pulsing beat to hold you tight and carry you.
“Piece of Heaven” and “See You On Monday (You’re Lost)” feel like an out-of-body experience where one watches everything beneath them in awe. Hazy production coupled with dreamy lyrics in “Piece of Heaven” like “Now there is a whole world / Going on out there / Whatever I’m missing out on / In here, I don’t care” feel like Parker is in a trance that he does not want to come out of.
“My Old Ways” and “No Reply” are the type of tunes you would open an album with, especially as an artist who has not released in a while. The first sounds of the album welcome us into Parker’s personal world with just him and his piano in a studio, singing what ultimately transitions into a more complete electronic funk. Opening statements like that show you what to expect of “Deadbeat” while simultaneously telling you to toss your expectations and preconceived notions out the window.
Past Tame Impala albums like “The Slow Rush” and his critically acclaimed “Currents” sound like they are going somewhere, like they have a destination to quickly get to with a few pit stops here and there. On “Deadbeat,” he sounds like he’s taking his time and learning to be patient, which is perhaps what becoming a father has taught him to do.
