Over this site’s decade-plus history, I’ve managed to spill quite of virtual ink covering Perth, Australia-born and-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and JOVM mainstay Kevin Parker, best known as the creative mastermind behind the multiple Grammy Award-nominated, critically applauded and commercially successful psych pop/synth pop at Tame Impala.
Parker’s fourth Tame Impala effort, The Slow Rush was released earlier this year, and the album continues an impressive and downright enviable run of critically applauded and commercially successful material. But thematically the album focuses on the rapid passing of time and life’s infinite cycles of creation and destruction — with the material conjuring the feeling of a lifetime in a lighting bolt, and of major milestones and events whizzing by you, while you stare at your phone. “A lot of the songs carry this idea of time passing, of seeing your life flash before your eyes, being able to see clearly your life from this point onwards. I’m being swept by this notion of time passing. There’s something really intoxicating about it,” Parker told the New York Times.
So far I’ve written about five of The Slow Rush‘s singles:
- “Patience,”an upbeat meditation on the cycles and phases of life, centered around a sound that seamlessly meshed 70s funk and 90s house.
- “Borderline,” a hook-driven, blissed out track with house music flourishes.
- “It Might Be Time,”a swaggering prog rock meets psych pop anthem featuring shimmering synth arpeggios, thumping beats and an enormous hook.
- Lost in Yesterday,” a woozy and lysergic, disco-tinged banger that explores time’s distorting effect on perspective and memories
- “Is It True,”a swooning, dance floor friendly banger that focuses on the countless paths our lives can take with just one single decision — and the confusion and uncertainty of love.
2020 has managed to be a momentous year for the Aussie JOVM mainstay in terms of accolades:
- Earlier this year, Parker was nominated for two Billboard Music Awards and an American Music Award.
- Last month, Tame Impala won 5 of the 7 categories he was nominated for at this year’s ARIA Awards: Album of the Year, Best Group, Best Rock Album, Best Engineer and Best Producer.
- Parker recently received nominations for two Grammy Awards — Best Alternative Album and Best Rock Song for “Lost In Yesterday.” The latest Best Alternative Album Grammy is Parker’s third, after receiving nominations for Currents and Lonerism.
And to cap off a busy year, Parker has released the sixth single off The Slow Rush, “Breathe Deeper,” a woozy pop banger, centered around shimmering synths, twinkling keys, skittering beats, and a sinuous bass line and Parker’s plaintive cooing. And much like its immediate predecessors, “Breathe Deeper” finds Parker crafting a hook-driven and seamless synthesis of synth pop, psych pop, house music and Quiet Storm soul.
Directed by Butt Studio, the recently released video is a lysergic fever dream that follows two brightly colored, CGI mosquitos flying through an otherworldly landscape.
