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AlbumReviews: 'Currents' by Tame Impala
The members of Australia-based band Tame Impala are the kind of musicians who will make you think twice about pop music
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The members of Australia-based band Tame Impala are the kind of musicians who will make you think twice about pop music.
Generally speaking, pop has always been synonymous with the hyper-sexualized, substance-free utopia that Top 40 radio helped to cement.
And front man Kevin Parker has repeatedly pledged his allegiance to the world of pop music, which is why Tame Impala is one of the few bands able to call itself pop, mean it, and casual listeners and critics will probably agree.
You might remember 'Elephant', one of the songs taken from Lonerism, Tame Impala's excellent sophomore record. Blackberry picked it up for their commercial, the profits from which reportedly managed to pay for half of Parker's house. And for a song that traverses through the verse/ instrumental freak-outs/verse formula, Tame Impala's idea of pop has always been true at best and defiant at worst.
With this in mind, we've arrived at 'Currents', the album that marks somewhat of a departure from Tame Impala's signature psychedelic sounds for all of the right reasons. It opens with 'Let It Happen', an 8-minute gargantuan tune that travels through 1980s house, funk, disco, everything. In one of the most telling moments on 'Currents', Parker sings 'It's always around me/all this noise' to welcome you to the album.
Recently, music website Stereogum ran a cover story titled 'The Bold Metamorphosis of Tame Impala'. For the most part of 'Currents', metamorphosis is the right word: Synthesizers replacing guitars, the larger role of the bass, the limited instrumental outro and the tighter song structure.
But overall, 'Currents' is mellower, more introspective than Innerspeaker or Lonerism. 'Let It Happen' sounds mighty, but it is no indication of what follows: Starting from the slow-burning song 'Nangs', the album slips into some pretty drowsy disco music, and doesn't stop until the end.
'Yes I'm Changing', the track that says more about 'Currents' than any other song, makes for an easy listen, while 'Reality in Motion' could have been taken from Lonerism.
Since Parker didn't involve anyone in the making of this record ' not even an outside producer, his imprint is everywhere; his tight songwriting and mind-blowing production are still his biggest strengths (although I'd argue that this is probably the reason why 'Currents' sounds kind of singular).
As proof of Parker's great production skills, the bassline on 'New Person, Same Old Mistakes', the drumming on 'Let It Happen', the RnB drop on 'Cause I'm a Man' and the shifting vocal modulations on 'Disciples' are the smaller details I can instantly name after a first listen. If there's anyone in the 21st century whose skills are up there with, say, Brian Wilson's, it's this guy.
Another example: 'Past Life' combines robotic spoken word with psychedelic vocals, and although it's the weakest song on the album, the saving grace is still Parker's distinct ear for melody. As the song would attest, 'Currents' is not a pop record at the expense of risks.
Lyrically, 'Currents' is a lot more personal than the previous two albums. 'Curse indulgence and despise the fame/There's a world out there and I'm calling my name' is a lyric Parker wrote to address his break-up (and possible other things) in 'Yes, I'm Changing'. There's a whole bunch of great personal lyrics in 'Currents', none of which fit the narratives on the mostly intrapersonal Lonerism.
Which brings me back to my two points about Tame Impala being a pop band and 'Currents' being a pop album. Yes to both, but Kevin Parker is a lot smarter than 'the one crossover act that people kind of love'. There's a lot to admire from Parker's progression from the sounds he had established, be them pop or not. Will 'Currents' break new ground? Hard to say for sure, but it's a pretty good album which proves once and for all that yes, everyone's changing.
