July 10--Tame Impala's first two albums were prayers answered for acid-rock buffs. On tour, Kevin Parker played the barefoot Australian guitar maestro, a one-man studio band who emerged from his basement to peer down at his foot pedals and conjure waves of psychedelic incense.
With expectations rising after the acclaimed "Lonerism," one of the best albums of 2012, Parker pivots. On "Currents" (Interscope), a lush production landscape heavy on keyboards and soul inflections usurps the guitars. There's no obvious follow-up to breakthrough songs such as the galloping "Elephant," and that's the point.
Memory and loss haunt Parker's new songs, but they also proclaim a readiness to embrace change and push forward. "Something's trying to get out, and it's never been closer," he sings, tipping the listener to an album that isn't going to sound like anything he's done previously. The guitar mist lifts. Though still dense and detailed in a way that lives up to Parker's reputation as an obsessive studio hermit, "Currents" also feels more spacious and danceable in its finest moments.
He doesn't ease listeners into the new sound. Instead, "Let it Happen" boldly announces it. The opening track unfolds over seven scenic minutes, punctuated by handclaps and distorted vocals, while riding a silky groove. About halfway through, the sound of a skipping compact disc suggests a sudden detour, and then festivities resume with a robot vocal that nods to Daft Punk. Tame Impala with a club hit on its hands? It could happen.
"The Less I Know the Better" is equally unexpected, with its emphatic bass straight out of the disco era, while bell-like percussion keeps things from descending into mere '70s nostalgia. High-end bass dances with synthesizers on "Disciples," and "The Moment" basks in subterranean rumble and finger snaps. These tracks aren't in a big hurry, but they swing in a way that Tame Impala never has before. "Cause I'm a Man" takes its time, luxuriates in its soul-streaked melody, even as Parker indicts his gender's ineptitude.
Though the album flows with typically fastidious attention to connecting themes and sounds -- compressed drums, falsetto vocals, endlessly layered keyboards -- it does have some padding: the distorted narration in "Past Life"; the recessed vocals of "Reality in Motion," which sounds orphaned from earlier Tame Impala albums; the wan "Love/Paranoia."
Just as Parker's narrators are going through a transition, so is Parker the artist. This isn't the album anyone expected of him. But from this heady, unexpected vantage point, anything seems possible.
"Currents"
Tame Impala
3 stars
greg@gregkot.com
