Tame Impala, the music project led by multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker, released his fifth studio album, “Deadbeat,” on Friday, Oct. 17. The album continues the shift away from the psychedelic rock Parker began his career with and further into pop and dance.
The album gets off to a solid start with opener “My Old Ways,” which tells of Parker confessing how he has given in to temptation. The track successfully fuses the psychedelic sound he is known for with the dance sound of this album. It works well as the start to the album, introducing themes of self-doubt and finishing with a suspenseful drop.
Loneliness is nothing new for Parker—it is the defining theme of his first three albums. But following the serenity of his prior album, “The Slow Rush,” one would expect that Parker would express a more nuanced view on his outcast status. Instead, Parker laments on relationship failures and self-doubt on “Deadbeat,” which gets old quickly. The otherwise laid-back track “No Reply” is dulled by self-hating lyrics that border on cringy: “You’re a cinephile, I watch Family Guy.”
The middle of the album could be described, for better or for worse, as dreamy. This begins with “Loser,” a slower track with lulling guitars. The track brings to mind Beck’s song of the same name as both songs contain similar lyrics. But while the Beck song is self-depreciating in a nonsensical, funny way, the Tame Impala song just makes you feel bad for him. “Oblivion” and “Not My World” are similarly sleepy, with the latter song evoking the feeling of falling asleep at the club. The synth 80s-sounding “Piece Of Heaven” breaks up the loner motif, with Parker describing his lover’s bedroom as divine. Although a much-needed break from the self-loathing lyrics, the track feels out of place amongst the dance and house-inspired tracks on the rest of the album.
Techno banger “Ethereal Connection” picks the party back up. It is easy to imagine this song accompanied by strobe lights. This one is most reminiscent of the iconic “Let It Happen” from his album “Currents,” with its long length (7:42) and satisfying beat drops. The track conjures a feeling of unease, with strangely organic sounds hiding behind the thumping bass. It is impossible to focus on a specific sound for too long, as the song quickly shifts into new and stranger sounds throughout its runtime.
Apart from the dreary “See You On Monday (You’re Lost),” the back half of the album is danceable, clearly inspired by house sounds. On “Afterthought,” Parker expresses disappointment at feeling undesired by his lover. The track is the most dance-pop sounding on the album, a sound Parker has clearly mastered, as this song has a clear groove. Parker finishes the album with the house track “End Of Summer.” This song is pure house, unlike anything Tame Impala has released before, which is perhaps its greatest downfall. “End Of Summer” sounds like any generic house song, down to its repetitive and pitched-up singing.
There were several moments on “Deadbeat” that were surprisingly lo-fi, like the fading staticky piano at the end of “No Reply” and background noise on “End Of Summer.” Knowing the perfectionist that Parker is, this is no mistake. These moments called to mind Dua Lipa’s misunderstood album “Radical Optimism,” which Parker served as a producer on. Upon its release, audiences, expecting the psychedelic sound Parker is known for, were disappointed by the dominantly dance-pop record. But over a year after its release, it is clear that Parker was not trying to make a Tame Impala record, but instead, infuse Lipa’s sound with bits and pieces of his signature sound. This is what makes Parker such an interesting producer: his ability to add his own unique flair to the projects he works on, despite the genre.
Perhaps it is not fair to compare “Deadbeat” to his previous works so quickly. The now-beloved “The Slow Rush” also received criticism for its dance-pop sound, a far cry from Tame Impala’s psychedelic rock roots. It is clear that Parker is not interested in repeating the sound of his previous albums—something that should be celebrated, and it will be exciting to see what genre Tame Impala tackles next.