3 years
after their stunning second album ‘lonerism’ tame impala are back with
‘Currents’, it kicks off with the 8 minute spectacular “let it happen” basked
in all of tame impala’s psychedelic glory. You can easily become lost
in its complexity as the track seems to change its tune multiple times but as
Kevin Parker has said you have to accept this change and once you do so it is
one hell of a track.
‘Nangs’
follows and it’s a funky rhythmic interlude which adds to the feel of this
being a more traditional concept album than Tame Impala’s previous two. The whole
notion of a concept album really does help with it's construction. After this
short ‘break’ comes ‘The Moment’ which is very catchy thanks to Parker’s looped
high vocals echoing around a heavy drum beat. For me this is one of the
stronger songs of the record and it has ends in a very intense, mystical
manner.
The emphasis
for once is on the vocals in ‘yes I’m changing’ which is also lyrically strong
and has Parker showing his darker side but stunning though it may be it just isn’t
heavy enough. Yes synth is nice and interesting to listen to but there just isn’t
enough rawness in the album as if it’s been over tampered with in a ‘tame
impala trying to be too much like tame impala kind of way’.
‘Eventually’
is much of the same. A weak track both musically and vocally, quite tiresome
and this is down to the bubble-gum synth organ which sounds a lot like 'this
modern glitch' era wombats (dare I say it). It's a real 1980’s pop throwback, which
in this case really isn’t a good thing. Though it picks up again with ‘the less
I know the better'; a heavy bassline with a sexy feel to it, despite it's repetitiveness,
it is a song you could happily nod your head to for hours on end. ‘Past life’
starts with robotic spoken word laid over (surprise surprise) some synth. Parker’s
vocals seem to get lost as the synth is quite overpowering and it’s a track
that again has tried to be too clever.
Disciples is
just an upbeat pop Tame Impala song that again transports you straight back to
the 80’s but unlike ‘eventually’ it’s done well, and it's really catchy. And guess
what?! It even features a guitar!
The best
song off the album is Aprils single ‘cause I’m a man’. Its traditional
Impala, slow synth with a gorgeous distorted overlay riff and Kevin Parker
really gives it all vocally. It’s a really powerfully stunning song. It almost
makes up for the next two tracks which are album fillers to end all album
fillers ‘reality in motion’ and ‘love paranoia’ which is faster paced and the
marginally better of the two. Though they aren’t necessarily bad tracks they don’t
really add anything to the album.
Fortunately it
ends on a high note with ‘New person same old mistakes’ the use of light
strings adds a vintage dimension and along with another heavy bassline paves way
for an eruptive trademark falsetto.
Currents
provides very few if any real sing along moments as ‘lonerism’ did with ‘feels
like we only go backwards’ that would go on to become huge songs, but it is
still a good album. Despite it being hugely predictable due to the tracks having a tendency
of breaking down only to pick up again and for someone of Kevin Parker’s
musical ability I expected more dynamism. By no means is this Tame Impala at
their best and it does not match the heights of ‘Lonerism’ but it is very holistic and comes together nicely. It does seem as
if a transition is just around the corner and this is such a “nearly” album it’s
exciting to think what will come next.
My Rating
7.8
By Joe Daniel
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