Album Review: “Currents” – Tame Impala

Out of all the albums that were coming out this year, there were really none that I was excited for. The slippery slope of bad music and mediocre comebacks seemed to be riding all the way from 2014 to now, and my ecstasy waned for the most part… Until I heard that Tame Impala was coming out with a new album. From the time Currents was announced, I had the greatest expectations from one of the highest-quality bands that produce the lushest, warmest, and absolutely breathtaking albums since 2010. Kevin Parker and his psychedelic confidants continued to let loose hit after hit after hit, and I wanted to know if there was a direction even farther than up.

Currents provides the transition from pure psychedelic rock that we all know and love to the realm of disco-rock, R&B, and pop that keeps the elements of production from the previous albums. The journey throughout these three albums has given us the smoothest ride through progressive sound that I have heard maybe since The Horrors. Tame Impala writes poetic love songs, tricky funk that’s less Mark Ronson and more Ariel Pink, and stories about weak men showing their mistakes out in full force. The music itself is as warm as ever, with more synthesizers, bells, and whistles than there has been before on a Tame Impala album. There isn’t a huge lack of actual instruments, but the focus here is the bass, which is what I loved from “Lonerism.” It’s fuzzy, funky, and so fun.

Tracks on this release don’t expand pass 8 minutes, and the length of every song is just long enough with variety to keep you satisfied with what you’ve just heard. For your prog-rock heads, yes, the longer songs have just enough change to keep you invested. “Eventually” has this thriving beginning and evolving into something of a ballad with the boom engrossing the whole track. “The Less I Know The Better” opens with this bass riff that moves you throughout the song with it’s downright funk dirtiness. Parker’s signature falsetto calms it a bit during the chorus, but it breaks it with his wail as soon as he needs to interrupt the sappiness. “Past Life” is interesting with the narrative being told through this distorted, disembodied voice leading us through and using the band for backup. “Disciples,” even for its length, is an outstanding track that inserts everything it needs to within it’s <2 minute runtime. Sounds like Parker took some hints from Mac DeMarco and added his own 70’s flair to it.

“Cause I’m A Man” is the pinnacle of this album, and they couldn’t have picked a better single release. The ballad of this man who proves his weaknesses is something that I really haven’t heard; I don’t think anyone else has heard, either. The bass and synth combo that rides the chorus is an experiment with a positive result, like coming up with new chemical compounds of sonic energy in a sound lab. “Reality in Motion,” for some reason, reminds me of the last day of school in A Goofy Movie. Don’t ask why, but it would be Max riding his skateboard above us in slow motion. The final track, “New Person, Same Old Mistakes” sounds like “Cause I’m A Man” and its scheming, evil, scientist brother. It’s slow. It is anything but bombastic, with a subtlety to it including acoustic guitars that flutter like a “Think Tank”-era Blur.

In any case, Kevin Parker and Tame Impala have done it again with a sound just different enough to suck you in and enough of the same to keep fans of the older material. To say that this album got me hyped enough to look for more music to review would be the absolute truth.