Tame Impala The Slow Rush 180g 2LP (Black Vinyl)

NPR's The 50 Best Albums Of 2020 - Rated 24/50!

Tame Impala (Kevin Parker) releases his fourth studio album, The Slow Rush, on Interscope. Recorded between Los Angeles and his studio in his hometown of Fremantle, Australia, the twelve tracks were produced and mixed by Parker. The Slow Rush is Parker's deep dive into the oceans of time, conjuring the feeling of a lifetime in a lightning bolt, of major milestones whizzing by while you’re looking at your phone.

The album cover was created in collaboration with photographer Neil Krug and features a symbol of humanity all but swallowed whole by the surrounding environment, as though in the blink of an eye.

Parker still sings like a Bee Gee with the soul of Bowie's Major Tom, floating above his thick disco, funk, and trip-hop beats, beautifully manicured synth textures and easeful Yacht-soul melodies. Even when songs wander off into diffuse eddies, or when he crams several distinct micro-movements into the same tune, everything seems obsessively considered, as if he spends more time perfecting the hi-hat clicks than most artists take making their whole record. If someone told you an army of musicians had contributed to The Slow Rush, you wouldn't be surprised, but the credits read simply, 'All music written, performed, and mixed by Kevin Parker.

During a year when everything seemed to go wrong, the gauzy layers of synths and guitars on Tame Impala's The Slow Rush swathed me like a comforting cocoon. The project is more pop-oriented than the sprawling, psychedelic rock that first brought singer-producer-bandleader Kevin Parker fame, and its light touch was needed amid 2020's constant grief. With its slow sway and airy falsetto, 'On Track' became a mantra for being OK with doing your best given the circumstances, even if your best isn't perfect. The funky backbeat of 'Breathe Deeper' pulsed along with a reminder to accept and let go. And on the tense, blues rock-tinged ballad 'Posthumous Forgiveness,' Parker opens up about the complex process of grieving a father figure who wasn't there for him as a child. Throughout The Slow Rush, Parker delves into sometimes painful memories but leaves his listeners with inspiration to keep dreaming.