Music Reviews

Kevin Parker’s third studio album „Currents“ was what originally introduced me to the mastermind project that Tame Impala is – the production on there was very drugy, psychedelic and instant and conceptually it was really cohesive – what made me fall in love with Kevin’s music though, was it’s predecessor „Lonerism“. That album was just a pure psychedelic bliss, with some really relatable themes going on, talking about self-isolation and loneliness in general – it really is a one-of-a-kind listen.

So maybe it was because of my high expectations going into this record, but I’m kinda conflicted on this one – for once, the production doesn’t feel as instant and explosive as on Kevin’s previous efforts (with some exceptions, but I will get to that later) – it’s rather more low-key or dance-oriented, trying out different sounds and experimenting, so it just comes off as not that cohesive of a work. Though I will say, some of the band’s best material to date turn up on this album, such as on the song „Posthumous Forgivness“, where the experimentations really pays off – the wall of psychedelic synths comined with that heavy kick and compressed drums on the chorus sound like being transfered to another dimension. The lyrics on this one hit as hard as the sound of the song, if not harder, talking about the passing of Kevin’s father – the vocals feel tortured even through all the layers of effects on them. It just hits all the right notes for me. On other tracks, the experimentation doesn’t alwys work out so well – a greay example of that being „Tomorrow’s Dust“, which isn’t per say bad, but with those gentle guitar melodies, sharp drums and layers of compression, just end up being really boring – like, the song has no bussiness being 5 and a half minutes long. Some other dancier tracks turn up on here, such as „Borderline“ and „Breathe Deeper“, which both feature some really nice keys and melodies – the production is rich, the imagery painted is beautiful and it’s just a good vibe overall, with „Breathe Deeper“ also featuring some really catchy basslines and more intresting structure to it – it end up being one of my favorites on here. Then we have the two pre-released singles „It Might Be Time“ and „Lost In Yesterday“, both of which are great in their own categories – It Might Be Time is perhaps the most experimental song on this whole project, making it a questionable leading single, but c’mon, this thing is a banger. It has probably the rawest mixing on here and is somehow pretty intense, even though it doesn’t sound intense at all – it starts off really laid back actually and plays on that note for most of the song. Lost In Yesterday on the other hand is one of the more dancable track here, with it’s slick bassline, sharp drums and godly vocals from Kevin Parker – it’s just a nice laid-back Tame Impala song, what else is there to say. The song „Is It True“ is as direct as it gets on the album, being one of the only instantly-catchy songs on here, with some heavy synths and electric guitar melodies, that just won’t leave your head for days to come. The most intresting songs conceptually though, are the opening and the closing tracks „One More Year“ and „One More Hour“ and how tie into each other. The opener sets the mood for the album just right, being one of the more low-key cuts here, it leaves a lot of room for the story/message to get across. The conept is pretty simple, with the protagonist on the first track just wanting to enjoy his year and on the last track just reflecting on it within the last hour. Both songs play off of each other very nicely and really tie this otherwise unorganised and somewhat disoriented album together.

And with that the album concludes, finnishing as strongly is at started. Now does this feel like a little bit of a let down from Kevin’s previous work? Kinda, but more then that it jsut feels like another natural artistic progression his music goes through – and even though this one is probably my least favorite of thos progressions, I stile enjoyed it quite a bit and genuinely can’t wait to see where Parker decides to go from here – whatever it is, I’ll be there for it.

strong 7/10

After enjoying Wilbur’s „I’m in Love with an E-girl“ and „Internet has Ruined Me“, both songs featuring some surprisingly beautiful chord progressions and clever comedic bittersweet songwriting, I was pretty hyped for this album when I first got it recommended. What I EXPECTED were songs with similar sense of ironic comedy to them, with some nice crisp production. What I GOT instead was something much more personal, and dare I say mature – of corse the comedic songwriting is still present in some form or shape, but he’s taking it much more seriously this time around, and as a result, I take him more seriously.

The songwriting is probably the selling point on this album, because the production usually just features Wilbur and his guitar, doing his thing, while he pours his expiriences on us. You could even call this a concept album, the concept being his expiriences with the city he’s been living in, London. The first song, „Jubilee Line“, illustrates that perfectly, with it’s lowkey guitar melodies, slowly raising in intensity as the song progresses and the lyrics talking about blaming the city for all the strugless in his life – the song takes a rather dark turn by the end, talking about the people that commited suicicde in the city’s underground. The song sets the mood perfectly for the album with it’s direct lyrics, but still leaving some room for interpretation. The following track „Saline Sollution“ follows a similar forula as the first one, this time focusing on solving the problems the city has forced upon him. The „sollution“ we’re presented with is kind of a sarcastic one, probably taken as a methaphor: salline sollution refering to the process of drinking salted water, for either regulating normal blood levels, or just throwing-up. Instrumentally the song, again, progresses to get more intense with some aditional low-key drums and horns this time round – it’s a really powerful moment on the album. „Since I Saw Vienna“ is instrumentally probably the least intresting of the bunch, but the lyrics are what sells it here, taking a different approach to saying, that London sucks, by basically comparing it to Vienna – it has a rather nostalgic vibe to it, but overall, there isn’t much to say about this one. „Losing Face“ has a much more direct and exciting instrumentation, with some intense but laid-back guitar chords, low-key crunchy drums and some aditional guitar tones in the background, really completing the atmosphere. This song marks the lyrical shift this album takes in the second half, now more focusing on a classic love drama. The lyrics compliment the tortured vocals really well, and you can feel the emotion pouring from the track – it’s a simple, yet effective way, of conveying the song’s message, something this album in general succeeds at. „Your Sister Was Right“ continues on that note with some nice vocal layering an adding context to what actually happened between these two in the lyrics – the instrumental is rather unintresting on here, but it does it’s job. „La Jolla“ is the longest song on here and it’s a pretty good way of summing up the whole album so far – the protaganist doesn’t feel good enough and sort of defeated and just wants to escape this god-forsaken city, which can be taken as a metaphor to all his problems in general. He hopes to one day move on from everything and live his happ life – that’s why Wilbur sounds so defeated and quiet on this one. The instrumentation is again really simple, but this time it actuall compliments everyhting elese that is going on pretty well, considering the track’s more low-key and defeated sound. The final song „I’m Sorry Boris“ is Wilbur reflecting on everything that has been leading up to this point and realising, that even though the goverment is destroying the city, he has all the people he cares about here and can’t just leave them behind – instead of running from his problems, he faces them. It transitions extraordinarilly well from the last track to this one, with the first cut having a more defeated tone and this one right here showing us the brighter side of things – in other words, the perfect closer.

And yeah, that pretty much concludes the album – short, but straight to the point. I think the message of this one is something really unique and the simple sound of the album leaves a lot of room for the message to get across. Though it also leaves a lot to be desired – don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the hell out of this thing, but sometimes, when the lyrics didn’t instantly grab me in, I just became real bored real quick, and that’s essentially the biggest issue I could find with this album – sometimes it’s just not exciting enough. So yeah, I think the instrumentation could use a little bit more spice here and there, but other then that, it’s a pretty solid listen – the songwriting is there, the intensity aswell and the message comes across. So overall, not bad at all, for a first release.

strong 6/10