The Next Tame Impala Record - Prepare To Be Disappointed

Kevin Parker's Tame Impala have been one of the best bands of the last ten years. Mixing together elements of Rock and Pop with a Psychedelic twist, the music is just fantastic. Lead singer of the Australian outfit, Kevin Parker, writes and records all of the material himself just under the name Tame Impala, the full band is only for live performances, but some members do have independent solo work. Their base player Cameron Avery supported and performed with Arctic Monkeys on their latest tour.

Kevin Parker of Tame Impala performing live in 2017.

Tame Impala first broke onto the Indy Scene with a self-titled EP in 2008, and by 2012 had gained major popularity through two fantastic records with 'Innerspeaker' (2010) and 'Lonerism' (2012). Before I get into this, I need to say that I absolutely love this band, or Kevin's work, I should say. I had the honour of seeing Tame Impala live last summer at the 'Mad Cool' Festival in Madrid, their first show back after a year away, and they blew my mind.

It wasn't until 2015 that Tame Impala broke the mainstream. With their 3rd Studio Album, 'Currents', Parker had without a doubt produced his best work yet, with instant hits like 'The Less I Know The Better' and 'Let it Happen' being brilliant compositions. The bassline in 'The Less I Know The Better' is up there for the greatest ever. Grooviest sh*t you'll ever hear. 'Currents' debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200, and debuted at No. 1 in their native Australia. It deserved the hype, no question.

'Currents' by Tame Impala, 2015.

So, that hype, it's still very much surrounding Tame Impala, so the question now is will they be able to live up to it. Sadly, I don't think so. I've praised Kevin's work so far, because it deserves it no doubt, but considering what Tame Impala have been up to in the 4 years since the release of 'Currents', it's not looking good for LP number 4. On January 3rd, Tame Impala were announced as one of the headliners for 2019's Coachella Festival in California, alongside Childish Gambino and Ariana Grande. Posting on their Instagram, they captioned the lineup with 'New year. New shows. New Sounds', seemingly confirming that new material is on the way.

Tame Impala confirming new material will be coming on 2019 on their Instagram.

So, what are these new sounds, going to sound like? Well if we're going to base it off Kevin's recent work, it'll be the same but different, in a bad way. Let me explain. In 2018, Parker collaborated with rapper Travis Scott, and along with The Weeknd, Kanye West, Pharrell Williams and Scott himself, co-wrote the track 'Skeletons'. This is my arrogant taste, but I just don't like Parker's music being fused with that scene of Kanye and Pharrel f*cking Williams. Also last year, Parker collated with Electronic Musician ZHU to make the track 'My Life'. It's actually good, wouldn't look out of place on any previous Tame Impala product, but it's not the advancement on 'Currents' that I was hoping for.

From left to right; Travis Scott, Kevin Parker, John Mayer, performing on SNL in 2018.

Many fans of Tame Impala coming out of 'Currents' would be hoping for more psychedelia and memorable riffs and lyrics for the next release, but it's looking like this next potential record could be filled with samples, electronic beats and rap features. I completely understand Parker's desire to try something new, he's not the type of artist who seems to sit still, but this is the wrong direction in my opinion, with many other possible avenues that could offer up much more than a Hip Hop and Rap centered Tame Impala album. My expectations are sadly low, but I'm hoping to be proved wrong, and I probably will be. And the fact that new Tame Impala material is seemingly on the way, does make me excited.

Tame Impala at the Grammy Awards in 2015.

I realise I've leaned towards the negative here, coming across as if as soon as Rap gets near anything I enjoy I begin to freak out, afraid that a certain band I enjoy may be sucked into the corporate machine that is the Rap & Hip Hop industry in 2019. But alas, I'm looking forward to the next Tame Impala release, despite the rumours. Arctic Monkey's frontman Alex Turner said he was open to working with Parker on a project, so if that happens, I'll just shut up and throw my money at it. Thank you for reading.