Review Summary: Let it happen.
Introversion and obsession have always been dominant forces in the mind of Kevin Parker. The Tame Impala mastermind has typically acted as a solitary genius, recording, producing and now mixing virtually every track the band has ever made by himself, holed up somewhere in his home of Western Australia. Brilliant with a perfectionist streak bordering on the unhealthy, Parker has spent his career refining a meticulous focus on the inner workings of psychedelia. As Tame Impala steadily grew from an Australian niche act on its excellent debut
Innerspeaker to receiving wider pop accolades on
Lonerism, it is easy to imagine Parker shying away from the growing spotlight he received as he moved from support act on the local festival circuit to playing a mainstage Coachella set directly before fellow Aussies AC/DC. As more and more gravitated to both Tame Impala’s distinctive sound, and by extension the genre as a whole, it would be only natural for a man like Parker, naturally press-shy and reclusive, to retreat further and further into his drugged-out isolation.
That’s why “Let It Happen”, the eight-minute disco funk masterpiece that opens new album
Currents, comes as such a shock to the system. “It's always around me, all this noise/But not nearly as loud as the voice saying/‘Let it happen, let it happen (It's gonna feel so good)/
Just let it happen, let it happen’”, Parker croons over one of the most infections beats this side of the ‘70s, signaling the beginning of an expansive sonic voyage whose main motif is change, specifically how to embrace dramatic changes in your own life and come out the other side intact. And the bitter taste of change has never sounded sweeter than on the album’s brilliant opening number. On “Let it Happen”, the act of letting down one’s reservations is represented both lyrically and sonically, as Parker fuses his act’s signature trippy psychedelic riffage with extensive synthesizers and an actually
funky bassline. But things get truly interesting in the song’s transformative second half, as a record skip effect signals a shift from the guitar-driven opening to a full-blown electronic crescendo. However, lest some of Parker’s core fanbase accuse Parker of “selling out” (whatever that even means in an era when making a living off recorded music is becoming nearly impossible), he also graces the slow buildup with one of the band’s best riffs to date. The track sets expectations sky-high, promising an album that combines the best of the mind-bending fuzz that Impala is known for with a shifting and constantly evolving sonic palate.
Remarkably,
Currents more than delivers on this initial promise. After making mostly conservative, calculated moves towards pop on
Lonerism, Kevin Parker doubles down on change, leading to a tremendous payoff for both artist and listener. The aptly titled “Yes I’m Changing” is one of Tame Impala’s most relaxed and mesmerizing compositions, driven once again by the bass and synth. One of the most poignant moments comes when Parker softly croons “They say people never change, but that's bullshit, they do” - a simple truth flawlessly conveyed over a lush, engaging medium. Elsewhere, the end of a relationship and the catharsis that comes with pain is made into a breathtaking anthem in “Eventually”, driven by some of the best production on the album, filled with crisp drums and rich harmonies. Similar themes of heartache are explored on the funky yet emotionally-driven “The Less I Know the Better”, and ode to flawed humanity “‘Cause I’m A Man” contains one of the most breathtaking pop hooks on an album full of highlights. Tame Impala has embraced contemporary influences like never before, and it paradoxically leads to the creation of their most timeless and cohesive work.
In a masterful turn of events, Parker’s newfound self-acceptance is challenged by pessimism on the brooding closer “New Person, Same Old Mistakes”, as dueling forces in his subconscious duke it out for supremacy in the hook:
“Feel like a brand new person
(But you make the same old mistakes)
I don’t care I’m in love
(Stop before it’s too late)”
This inner turmoil persists through the second verse and chorus, as Parker hesitantly sings of “finally taking flight” and “going with what [he] always longed for”… before the song takes a dramatic turn in the soaring bridge.
“Man, I know that it's hard to digest
But baby this love ain’t so different from the rest
And I know it seems wrong to accept
But you've got your demons, and she's got her regrets”
In one of the most spellbinding passages of the album, catharsis finally takes a hold, and Parker is free to move on from the grip of isolation and despair that once threatened to consume him whole. This release of tension is made all the more powerful by the sonic odyssey the listener undertakes to reach it, jam-packed with every emotion imaginable and soundtracked by a dramatically widened sonic palate. Kevin Parker finally let his guard down, and it resulted in a groovy, delectable psychedelic masterpiece from a man who stepped up his game in every way.
“Feel like a brand new person
So happy to know that it's right
In a new direction
So happy to know I've come to fall”
