Tame Impala – Currents

Description

The Analog Vault // Essential Listening

Kevin Parker reframed psychedelia for the mainstream on Currents, pivoting Tame Impala from fuzzed-out guitars to gleaming synth-soul and precision pop. Parker wrote, performed and produced the entire record, layering elastic bass, side-chained drums and shimmering harmonies into widescreen compositions. Let It Happen unspools like a self-remixing suite, while The Less I Know the Better distills heartache into a stadium-size groove. Originally released in 2015, the album chronicled change with diaristic candour, aligning theme and form. Sweeping year-end lists and Australias ARIA Awards, Currents remains one of the decades defining psych-pop statements. The Analog Vault

Nearly every song on Currents is a statement of leader Kevin Parkers range and increasing expertise as a producer, arranger, songwriter, and a vocalist. Parker is writing pop songs here, and doing them justice, and Currents is the result of a supernaturally talented obsessive trying to perfect music.

After two Tame Impala albums that centered on Kevin Parkers withdrawal from society, he has entered the stream of life on Currents. And hes lonelier than ever. The bemused, occasionally melancholy isolation that defined Innerspeaker and Lonerism has metastasized into heartbreak, bitterness, regretfeelings that can actually kill you if left untended. This is a breakup record on a number of levelsthe most obvious one being the dissolution of a romantic relationship, but also a split with the guitar as a primary instrument of expression and even the end of the notion that Tame Impala is anything besides Kevin Parker and a touring band of hired guns. Because of these shifts, the question of whether Currents is better than his first two albums is beside the point: It stands completely apart.

Currents is the result of many structural changes, most of which exchange maximalist, hallucinatory swirl for intricacy, clean lines.

Nearly every proper song onCurrents is a revelatory statement of Parkers range and increasing expertise as a producer, arranger, songwriter, and vocalist while maintaining the essence of Tame Impala: Parker is just as irreverent working in soul and R&B as he is with psych-rock. (via Pitchfork)

Starting their career as psychedelic explorers, the Australian band Tame Impala spent a decade subverting expectations and mutating their sound in fascinating ways, as well as being an inspiration to musicians as diverse asUnknown Mortal OrchestraandLady Gaga. Guided by the musical prowess ofKevin Parker, the band’s 2010 debut album,Innerspeaker, was a huge, loud guitar rock album dipped in swirling psychedelic colors. The follow-up,Lonerism(2012), dialed down the guitars in favor of a more expansive style, after whichParkerswerved into a poppier sound that brought in hip-hop (2015’sCurrents) and disco influences (2020’sThe Slow Rush) while upping the sugar content of the hooks.

In addition to the soft rock of the ’70s feel that permeates the sound, Parker adds elements of R&B and hip-hop to the mix, gets lyrically introspective in spots. Parker’s prowess as a producer and musician makesCurrents a standout. The record has swept a number of categories at the 2015 ARIA Awards, including Best Album, and was once again nominated for Best Alternative Album at the 2016 Grammys. (via AllMusic)

Label:Fiction Records, Caroline International
Format:2 x Vinyl, LP, Album, Repress, Gatefold
Repress:2024 / Original Release: 2015
Genre: Rock, Electronic
Style:Indie Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Synth-pop

File under: TAV Essential Listening
File under: Alternative / Indie / Pop