Review Summary: Kevin Parker further evolves his unique brand of neo-psych, even if it doesn't quite reach the heights it aims for.
Almost 5 years since the release of Currents, neo-psychedelic mastermind Kevin Parker has returned from his palace of wonders to bring us his newest cauldron dew in The Slow Rush. Moving past the corny analogies for a second, before going into The Slow Rush I had a feeling that it might end up doing a similar thing that Currents did to me when it first came out. It was very different then Parker's first two LPs under the Tame Impala moniker, Innerspeaker and Lonerism, and at first I didn't like it. I ended up going back to that album a year later and falling in love with tracks like The Less I Know The Better, Yes I'm Changing, Disciples and New Person, Same Old Mistakes and rating the album quite highly in comparison to Lonerism but not as high due to a few weak tracks during the beginning.
Kevin Parker's 4th LP, The Slow Rush, wasn't quite the same experience as Currents and clicked with me a lot earlier then that album did. While Currents' lead track Let It Happen felt a bit too tame and didn't really attract my intrigue and attention The Slow Rush's lead track One More Year was the complete opposite. The hollow echo of the song title mixed with the more polished percussion, bright glitchy synths and engulfing mix make it such a fan and almost progressive track that makes me very immersed into the album. The follow-up tracks Instant Destiny and Borderline, a very Lonerism-esqe percussion led track and more Currents-like disco anthem, aren't as strong as One More Year but both have their charms and still stay listenable while not dragging on for too long.
Posthumous Forgiveness, Parker's introspective into his relationship with his father, is probably the best favourite vocal performance he's ever given on an album. The organic percussion and slick guitar mix very well with the soulful and sorrowful lyrics to make for a very memorable standout track on this album. Breathe Deeper seems to begin more of a move of the album into a disco-heavy vibe. It starts a bit rudimentary but then the piano kicks in and it absolutely makes the song with how hypnotically catchy it is with the addition of the bongos and pan flute instrumentals. Tomorrow's Dust has a great guitar lead but feels like one of the weaker songs on the album but it is by no means a bad track. The change-ups keep it dynamic much like Lonerism tracks like Apocalypse Dreams and it keeps listeners quite invested.
On Track is a bit of a weaker deep cut but acts a nice bridge between Tomorrow's Dust and my favourite track of the album, Lost In Yesterday. This song feels like such a natural progression for Kevin Parker and takes what works with all his past LPs and makes for such a standout track. The lyrical writing is wonderful as is the dynamism of the track which blends both the neo-psych and the electronic dance elements seen in this album near perfectly. The follow-up track, Is It True, is definitely the most pure disco track on the album and is nice and groovy but not anything standout-ish. The track after that, It Might Be Time, might be my 2nd favourite track from this album however as the squeaky keyboard leads and wonderful breakdowns make it a great chill track that sticks in the memory banks for sure.
The ending of the album in the short demo of Glimmer and the closer One More Hour are a bit weak but the latter has a nice epic ending vibe to it that's nice but not as strong of an overall track as New Person, Same Old Mistakes or Sun's Coming Up but it still a satisfying enough album-ender to what I'd say is the most enjoyable album I've heard in 2020 so far.
The Slow Rush, while slightly less compactly good as Lonerism, is still a great progression for Kevin Parker as a songwriter and takes what worked in both Lonerism and Currents and expands on the production to give almost a best of both worlds but not quite as easily listenable tracks as some of the highlights on both those projects. While a lot of people haven't been as receptive to The Slow Rush as they did with Lonerism or Currents I think this one will be a "slow burn" of sorts and gain more respect in the future as a transformational album in what will be a very long career for Kevin Parker as a universally important songwriter.
