Tame Impala – fronted by multi-instrumentalist powerhouse Kevin Parker, a modern psych-rock prophet who, rather astoundingly, writes and records the vast majority of Tame Impala’s music himself – return with their third long player Currents. The record is a heady yet sincere brew of cosmic synths (an Impala staple, now more pronounced than ever before), robust beats, thick basslines and crunching, psychical guitars that seem to span galactic aeons. Exploring themes of introspection, heartbreak, great personal change and the pressures of living in the moment, the band have added another worthy element to their grand sonic tableau of melancholy, loss and hopelessness set out in 2010’s Innerspeaker and expanded upon in 2012’s Lonerism.
Opener ‘Let It Happen’ establishes a system of recursive synth and bass loops that crop up throughout the album, suggesting a process of self-reflection through literal repetition. The track also sets up the introspective conflict at the core of Currents: Parker proposes that personal change is inevitable, and asks whether it is better to embrace this change or to avoid it, concealing it under the detritus of old feelings, old friends, and old lives. ‘Let It Happen’ sets up Parker as a man running from himself, aware of something inside coming to the surface and fighting his hardest to keep it under wraps. Between here and closer ‘New Person, Same Old Mistakes’, he takes us through an emotive gulf of doubts, mistakes, breakups, apologies and uncertain futures, all in an effort to discover who he is, and whether he can accept all he has done in the past. It is a relatable, affecting, and discreetly draining journey to say the least.
Following on from ‘Let It Happen’, ‘Nangs’ plays out like the initial steps of a trip to the farthest reaches of the mind, all wavy synths that bleed and plateau into the soft reverb of Parker’s vocals. The group has always been adept at creating this sensation of travelling, of tripping beyond space and time in the way that only their particular brand of psychedelic rock can, and they put this to good effect throughout the album in laying out the ever-shifting parameters of grief and lovelorn anguish. ‘The Less I Know The Better’ speaks of unrequited love; ‘Eventually’ concerns the breaking off of a relationship; ‘Love/Paranoia’ considers the paradoxical loneliness of being together and standout track ”Cause I’m A Man’ – the peak of the album’s regretful tone, and what can only be described as an anthem for apology – examines the state of a man attempting to explain his shortcomings to a lover. The song comes in thick, sultry waves, at once seductive and disarmingly honest, whilst Parker’s fragile, deeply repentant lyrics – “‘Cause I’m a man, woman / I’ll never be as strong as you” – satisfyingly situate him as a man at his most vulnerable, admitting plainly to his defects with the utmost of sincerity.
Occasionally the album can get mired in an introspective lurch, becoming overbearing in its push for change and emotional candour. ‘Past Life’, in its use of several spoken word segments, comes across as particularly preachy, whilst ‘New Person, Same Old Mistakes’ has a trudging, lolloping rhythm that borders on monotonous. This is not to say these tracks aren’t as engaging or impressive as the rest on the album – Parker’s flair for melody and fondness for distortion and reverb shines through as strongly as ever – but their dogmatic lyrics and grimly persistent rhythm can come off as exceptionally forced when compared to the more open, interpretive connections to Parker’s heartache offered on ‘The Moment’ and ‘Disciples’.
Nevertheless, Tame Impala have once again provided an expansive, instrumentally original and emotionally transformative listening experience, one that fits neatly into the thematic oeuvre established in their previous albums, yet exhibits growth in its often overwhelming honesty and despair. An inwardly reflective treasure from a band with a sound like no other and sincerity to spare.
Words by Tom Grantham
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