@tameimpala
Kevin Parker, the mind and main voice behind music project Tame Impala, made waves in the psychedelic scene with his 2015 project “Currents,” a lush and fresh take on the genre. Now, 10 years later, “Deadbeat” sees Parker dipping into the styles of house and EDM, with tracks like “Dracula” feeling like the perfect blend of the classic Tame Impala sound and the bumping bass of house music. Unfortunately, other cuts, like “Ethereal Connection,” feel directionless and too derivative of other artists, like Aphex Twin.
The rollout for this project had me excited for the music to come, as the album’s leading singles displayed a new, ambitious sound for Parker. “End Of Summer,” the closing track of the album, was the first single, and what a reintroduction it was! At seven minutes long, the song was a mesmerizing cacophony of raspy drum loops, dreamy synths and most importantly, a thumping bass that provides its groove. Despite the long runtime, the song doesn’t drag; it flows with glitchy vocal chops and electro-tones carrying it through its second half.
Another leading single, “Loser,” is a moody guitar track with an infectious melody that struts with a pleasing swagger. The choruses share some of the same dreamy sound heard in “End Of Summer” but with a mellower take.
The last single released, the aptly named “Dracula,” is by far the highlight of the album. Taking a page out of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” playbook, this song is unabashedly made for Halloween and is such an earworm. Delicately layered vocals give the song an otherworldly feel, as Parker sings “Run from the sun like Dracula” in such a lovely melodic hook. It’s reminiscent of his work on “Currents,” with, again, some MJ in the mix.
Past the singles, though, my good graces for this album begin to wane. The first song, “My Old Ways,” starts out as a fun piano-centered track, and the transition from lo-fi piano music to a house beat is surprisingly enjoyable. However, the piano motifs drag through the song and get a little grating toward the end, but the track makes up for it by presenting a funky guitar solo as a closer. It’s not as good as any of the singles, but still a decent song.
“No Reply” is where the project’s cracks start to really show. The drums are duller than any of the singles, and the vocals are lackluster. The whole song is very mellow, but with neither the swagger of “Loser” nor any of the guitars that helped it. It feels hollow and the ending reuses the piano sounds heard in “My Old Ways” to help it conclude in what is admittedly a very pretty manner.
This trend of an underwhelming sound continues with “Oblivion,” marked by its washed-out vocals and a simplistic synth melody that permeates the choruses. The song is completely aimless. It has a bridge-like section toward the end with a funky solo that seems like it might offset the dullness, only for the song to drop back down into a moment of quiet nothingness, followed by a return to that same boring chorus! It feels directionless, another trait that continues throughout the album.
The worst offender is “Ethereal Connection.” A fast-paced drum loop starts off the song, melting into a very low-toned bass and snare beat, which are classic house sounds. It throws in some glitchy electronics that have Aphex Twin written all over them and then drags this derivative sound on for nearly three minutes without any meaningful progression. When Parker’s vocals make their entrance, they’re muddied by the instrumental and don’t feel substantial in any real way — at least, not enough to break up the monotony. The song then gets stripped back only to its bass line, a key mistake considering that it’s not a very interesting one, and then introduces weird, high-pitched drums. It’s all very odd and incredibly inconsistent. The song feels directionless and confused, and the ending is seriously unsatisfying, as the song doesn’t feel cohesive enough to leave any real impact.
All the worst qualities in “Ethereal Connection” make up what I feel to be the biggest flaw with this album: its complete lack of direction. It seems as though Parker doesn’t seem to know what he wants to create — on some tracks, it’s this very laid back house vibe and on other tracks, it’s synth pop with Michael Jackson stylings. In trying to explore more genres, he ends up underperforming in all of them; the best of this album barely meets the standards set by “Currents,” and the worst puts me straight to sleep.
All in all, “Deadbeat” has some high highs and some very boring lows. Hopefully, in five more years, Parker will pick a lane and stick to it, producing more sounds like “Dracula” with less “we have Aphex Twin at home” energy.