We’ve been on a bit of a deep dive through the archives with our Good Vibes lately, from the dad rock of Dire Straits’ Brothers in Arms back in ’85 to the virtual universe of Gorillaz in ’01. This time, we decided to revisit something a little more recent. Believe it or not, Currents – the album that took Tame Impala from indie cult psych rock darlings (whatever that means) to inescapable alternative powerhouses – is turning ten years old.
Let’s rewind a second. Tame Impala is the project of Australian musician Kevin Parker. You could call it a band, and in a sense it is, but really, Parker is Tame Impala. His first two albums, InnerSpeaker and Lonerism, announced him/them as a genuine buzz band. Driven by fuzzed-out guitars, psychedelic jams and groovy rhythms (the ubiquitous single “Elephant” is a great example), they spent the early 2010s solidifying their status as a premier rock act.
With a solid amount of success, including a Grammy nomination, Parker could easily have churned out more of his popular sound. But spurred on by the end of his relationship, he instead locked himself away in his Fremantle home studio, swapped the guitars for synths and drum machines, and emerged with an album that sounds nothing like your typical break-up record.
It’s personal, sure. But there are no clichés here, and if you didn’t listen to the lyrics at all, you might not even notice. This album is his attempt at pop, packed with hypnotic, grooving basslines, soaring synths and tasteful drum patterns. It’s dancing through uncertainty at its absolute finest. That might sound hyperbolic, but we’re not alone in our opinion. The album received near-universal acclaim from both critics and fans and even earned a spot on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
One thing that really sets this album apart is that it’s entirely Parker’s creation. He wrote, recorded (playing all the instruments), produced and mixed the album on his own. There are literally no other collaborators. For any full band to create something like this would be impressive but knowing it all came from one musician shows we’re talking about some serious talent.
We could talk about the singles – the ones you’ve probably already heard – but what we really want to mention is the cohesive journey. This is an album that’s best enjoyed in full. You can tell time was spent perfecting every detail, sometimes to the point of obsession. This isn’t just about catchy songs; it’s a peek inside the mind of a musical whizz.
If you want to get a small taste of the album, you’ll find a couple of tracks in this month’s Penta Sounds. But honestly, you could do a lot worse than dedicating 50-odd minutes to a psychedelic pop journey through the mind of this Aussie legend. Ten years on, this album still holds up.
Currents was released 17 July 2015.
Still credits: “TAME IMPALA - Live at New York Full Concert - 2017 (1080p_60fps)” uploaded to YouTube by Gabriel Torres
