Tame Impala’s Familiar Heights
Kevin Parker returns with his first single since 2015’s Currents.
When Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker released the first single from the “band’s” third album, 2015’s Currents, the buzz around “Let It Happen” was undeniable. At almost eight minutes long, the song twisted and turned and glitched its way to modern psychedelic bliss among critics and consumers alike. Parker was poised to grab the attention of blogs all over the web with its newly focused sounds and production.
It was unlike anything Parker had put out up to that point, in the sense that it was extremely focused and pointed in its sonic territory, produced to the nines with sounds that felt real and authentic, yet ethereal and otherworldly.
Fast forward to March 2019, four years after the first single from Currents had illuminated our earbuds, and we get a more subdued, mature and familiar sound with “Patience.”
The track opens with what feels like an overused patch on an old Yamaha keyboard that appeals to both 70’s Yacht Rock and nostalgia enthusiasts alike. The drums come at us with a simple fill at 18 seconds in and we’re reminded to never doubt the genius that is Kevin Parker, as the song falls into a groove that resembles disco without the cocaine. What we get from then on is familiar territory from Parker, a mid-tempo jam that rewards the eardrums with its warmth and discipline.
At the tail end of the hook, we are introduced to an arpeggiated synth patch that sounds like something out of Animal Collective’s “My Girls.”
“Just growin’ up in stages…,” Parker sings at the beginning of the chorus, reminding us that the me-against-the-world attitude that brought us “Let It Happen” might not exactly be the approach to the yet-to-be-announced upcoming album.
Parker is scheduled to headline some of the biggest and most well-known festivals around the world this summer, from Coachella to Boston Calling to Glastonbury (not to mention an SNL appearance later this week). Tame Impala is more than ready for this spotlight, as it has played these slots before. But the question I’m left with is this: how did an obscure psychedelic rock band make its way from stoners jamming garage rock with 2010’s Innerspeaker to the somewhat enigmatic genius one-man-band in the studio that has captured an almost universal appeal across genres and age groups?
Even with the familiarity Parker brings us with “Patience,” it’s a welcome return as one of music’s most exciting artists, and I don’t see anyone complaining.
No, “Patience” does not draw the excitement of “Let It Happen”, but Parker hasn’t let us down yet – and I don’t hear any indication of that happening on the latest single.
Tame Impala will release its next album sometime this year and will perform on Saturday Night Live on March 30th.