'Deadbeat': Tame Impala's downbeat rave-inspired latest

Anxiety and self-doubt have been constant themes for Kevin Parker, the Australian musician who now finds himself among the highest echelons of modern music. With his project Tame Impala, these themes have provided an almost unending source of inspiration, even while musically the project has transitioned from pyschedelic/Indie rock, and into a pop and a dance-oriented sound.

Parker and his project resonated quickly with an audience who were captivated by his profound creativity on the first two albums (2010’s Innerspeaker and 2012’s Lonerism). But with 2015’s Currents, the Pandora's box was blown wide open into the mainstream. Parker’s greater embrace of a synthesised pop sound, paired with his trademark lyrical style and vocals, spoke to a sense that despite our deeper connectivity through technology; as a society it was now never easier to feel alone and isolated. Currents was far more successful than albums one and two, with single “The Less I Know the Better” currently standing at over 2 billion streams on Spotify, and with this success Parker has spent the years since 2020’s The Slow Rush collaborating with a star-studded who’s who of modern music.

But now Parker has returned the spotlight on to his project with album number five, Deadbeat. The themes of anxiety remain, but now they are examined through different lenses, particularly fatherhood, and his much higher level of stardom. Musically though, the evolution is far more pronounced as the dance beats are cranked higher. “My Old Ways” opens with a piano loop that builds into a house rhythm, while singles “Dracula” and “Loser” hammer home Parker’s self-deprecating style over disco styled beats and dance-pop. Elsewhere, “Piece of Heaven” captivates with a lighter, uplifting tone.

And this is very much the trend for Deadbeat’s duration: Parker demonstrates that he has far outgrown his pyschedelic rock roots, and his mastery of melodies and rhythms continues to be honed and refined in various electronic modes. Yet, here more than before, the self-deprecation gets in the way of itself. Gone are the caricatures and narratives Parker would sprinkle throughout on previous hits, such as Lonerism’s “Elephant”. Instead, Deadbeat comes off rather downbeat despite the undeniable groove.

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