Tame Impala Is The: Innerspeaker Lonerism Currents The Slow Rush
Tame Impala Is The: Innerspeaker Lonerism Currents The Slow Rush
Tame Impala Is The: Innerspeaker Lonerism Currents The Slow Rush
Parker originally conceived the project in Perth in 2007. After a series of singles and EPs, Tame Impala's
debut studio album, Innerspeaker, was released in 2010; it was certified gold in Australia and well
received by critics. Parker's 2012 follow-up, Lonerism, was also acclaimed, reaching platinum status in
Australia and receiving a Grammy Award nomination for Best Alternative Music Album. Tame Impala's
third album, Currents, was released in July 2015,[8] and like its predecessor, it won ARIA Awards for Best
Rock Album and Album of the Year. Parker won the APRA Award for Song of the Year 2016
for Currents' first track, "Let It Happen".[9] The fourth studio album, The Slow Rush, was released on 14
February 2020. At the 2020 ARIA Music Awards, the group won five trophies.
Contents
1History
o 1.22008–2009: Tame Impala EP
o 1.42010: Innerspeaker
o 1.52011–2014: Lonerism
o 1.62015–2017: Currents
2Musical style
o 2.1Influences
3Members
o 3.1Studio
o 3.2Live
4Discography
6References
7External links
History[edit]
The origins of the act can be found in the Perth music scene. Parker played in a number of bands, one
being the Dee Dee Dums, a rock duo that consisted of Parker (guitar) and Luke Epstein (drums). Tame
Impala emerged in 2007 as a Kevin Parker home-recording project in this period and he posted a
number of tracks on Myspace. This brought interest from a number of labels and eventually, he signed a
worldwide deal with the independent Modular Recordings in July 2008.[10][unreliable source?][11] To transfer
these recordings to a live-stage, Parker enlisted the help of Dominic Simper (bass) and Jay
Watson (drums) and began playing at some local gigs.[12]
2008–2009: Tame Impala EP[edit]
The signing was soon followed by the release of their self-titled EP in September 2008.[13] It reached the
number 1 position on the Australian Independent Record Labels (AIR) Chart and number 10 on the ARIA
Physical Singles Chart,[14] with three songs—"Desire Be, Desire Go",[15] "Half Full Glass of Wine", and
"Skeleton Tiger"—receiving national radio airplay on the Triple J radio station.[16][17]
Tame Impala appeared on Triple J's Hottest 100 list in 2008—their first appearance on the list—with
"Half Full Glass of Wine" at number 75. The song is also on the Hottest 100 compilation album.[18][19]
Tame Impala's first single, "Sundown Syndrome", was recorded at Toerag Studios in London, UK, with
recording engineer Liam Watson, while the band was in the UK in March 2009.[20] "Sundown Syndrome"
was premiered by Richard Kingsmill on his "2009" show on Triple J on Sunday 10 May 2009. The song
was released in July 2009 on vinyl, and digitally with a cover of "Remember Me" by DJ Blue Boy.[21]
The band then headlined the inaugural "Rottofest" in August 2009, an annual comedy, film and music
festival held on Rottnest Island off the coast of Western Australia. Following Rottofest, they embarked
on a national tour through September and October 2009 in support of the single.[22] "Remember Me"
appeared at number 78 on Triple J's Hottest 100 for 2009.[23]
"Sundown Syndrome" was included on the soundtrack of the Oscar-nominated film The Kids Are All
Right.[24] "Half Full Glass of Wine" was used in HBO's popular television series Entourage as the closing
song for an episode.[25]
Tame Impala appeared at the Australian/New Zealand Big Day Out festival in early 2010, performing
alongside bands such as Muse, The Mars Volta, Kasabian and Rise Against.[26]
2010: Innerspeaker[edit]
Main article: Innerspeaker
Tame Impala performing at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in June 2010
Tame Impala's debut album Innerspeaker was released on 21 May 2010. In the UK the official release
date was 28 June, but iTunes accidentally[citation needed] made it available for purchase on 12 May. The
album was released in the United States on 8 June to general and critical acclaim. Pitchfork named it
Best New Music.[27]
In an interview with Triple J talking about the album's nomination for the J Award, Parker stated that
they had secretly been recording a new album. "Jay and I have been recording pretty compulsively and
album number two is nearing potential completion already and I'm so excited about it that I'm having
trouble keeping myself from telling you all about it". This came only months after Innerspeaker was
released.
The group toured in mid-2010, commencing the Innerspeaker album tour on 13 May 2010 as the
opening act for MGMT's 2010 American tour. The band returned to Australia to play at Splendour in the
Grass festival, which was followed by a European Tour in July (including an appearance at the Reading
Festival) and a national Australian tour in October. In November they returned to the UK and Europe for
a fifteen date tour, including their largest London headline show to date which was attended by Noel
Gallagher, Tom Meighan, Sergio Pizzorno, Noel Fielding, Alexa Chung and Alison Mosshart,[28] the band
then went on to the United States and Canada for twenty headline dates including sold-out shows in
Toronto, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. They also received four 2010 ARIA Music
Awards nominations which include, "Album of the Year" and "Best Rock Album" for Innerspeaker, "Best
Group" and also "Breakthrough Artist".[29]
2011–2014: Lonerism[edit]
Main article: Lonerism
Parker performing with Tame Impala in March 2011
Tame Impala's second album, Lonerism was released in 2012 and was mixed by Dave Fridmann.
[31]
Parker said that Lonerism "represents a departure from his previous work by incorporating an
expanded sonic palette, more emotional song writing, and a more pronounced narrative perspective". It
was created in a similar set up as Innerspeaker, whereby Parker wrote and recorded the majority of the
album by himself at his home in Perth, Western Australia.[32] Parts of the recording also occurred in
Parker's home studio in France.
While in France, Parker produced and played on the self-titled dream pop album by Melody's Echo
Chamber, the project of French singer Melody Prochet. As a result, one of the tracks on Lonerism is
titled "Endors Toi", which roughly translates from French to English as "go to sleep". The album cover is
a photo taken by Parker of the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris, France, with additional editing by Leif
Podhajsky, a graphic designer who created the album art for Innerspeaker. The image ties into the
themes of isolation of Lonerism, with a metal gate separating the viewer from the people in the
Gardens.[33]
The band released the song "Apocalypse Dreams" for free download on 7 July 2012. The first single
"Elephant" was released in July 2012.[34] The album was released on 5 October in Australia, 8 October in
the United Kingdom and 9 October in the United States. StillinRock described it as the best album of the
year.[35] The album features the songs "Apocalypse Dreams" and "Elephant", which are some of the first
songs that Parker has co-written with Watson. "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" was released as the
second single.[36]
Tame Impala in October 2012
In November 2012, Lonerism won the 2012 J Award for Australian Album of the Year. It was the second
time Tame Impala had won the award, after also winning it for their debut album Innerspeaker in 2010.
They are the first band to win the J Award more than once. In January 2013, Lonerism was selected
by Rolling Stone for the 2012 Album of the Year award after the band also won the award in 2011
for Innerspeaker. It was also announced as album of the year by UK magazine NME.
Additionally, Lonerism was voted number one overall in Rolling Stone, Triple J, NME, Filter, Urban
Outfitters, FasterLouder and Obscure Sound's 2012 Album of the Year polls. Lonerism became the first
Australian album to win NME's album of the year. "Elephant" and "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards"
appeared at number 7 and 9 respectively in Triple J's Hottest 100 for 2012.[37]
The band began an international tour in 2012 through 2013, supported by The Growl. During this tour,
they played major festivals, such as Coachella, Sasquatch Festival,[citation needed] and appeared on Late Night
with Jimmy Fallon.[38] For this tour Watson switched from drums to keyboards and Parker recruited
Julien Barbagallo on drums.[39]
In September 2012, Tame Impala's first U.S. feature appeared on the cover of the publication The
FADER, in its 82nd issue.[40]
On 18 May 2013, it was announced via Facebook that Allbrook would leave the band to focus on other
musical endeavours, and that Cam Avery of Pond and The Growl would take his place. Allbrook played
his final gig with the band on their last Australian tour date of 2013 at Perth's Belvoir Amphitheatre, the
same venue that Allbrook played his first gig with the band at in 2008. As a farewell gesture, the band
played a cover of Outkast's "Prototype".[41]
"Be Above It", the first track on the album, is featured in the 2019 movie Waves. This includes the studio
version, the live version from the Live Versions album and the Erol Alkan Rework version.
2015–2017: Currents[edit]
Main article: Currents
Cam Avery and Kevin Parker, performing with Tame Impala in June 2014
It is believed that Parker started recording the follow-up album to Lonerism at the beginning of 2014,
due to various Instagram posts that showed recording taking place at the Wave House in Western
Australia, where the debut album Innerspeaker was recorded.[43] Prior to this, Parker had been touring
with Tame Impala and working on other musical projects, including his disco-funk band, AAA Aardvark
Getdown Services. Parker said in May 2013:
Right now, doing another album doesn't excite me. There's something narrow-minded about thinking an
album is the only way you can put out music, especially in the world we’re in at the moment. Anything is
possible. There's so many people doing interesting things with the internet and technology, there could
be so many ways of making music and listening to it. It's 2013 and you can make music anywhere...
There are so many possibilities, my brain is overloading on them all. I just need to wait, think about
things a bit more. Then I’ll know what to do next.[44][45]
In May 2014, Parker spoke of his growing inclination toward the recording of another album in a triple J
radio interview, explaining that: "I'm getting more and more sucked into the world of making an album.
It's weird how it happens naturally, it's almost feels like a seasonal thing. I've started to think about
tracklistings and all the things that come with an album."[46] Describing the sound of the new album,
Parker said "I'm gonna try to make it a bit more minimal this time; only use what's needed ... instead of
a supreme pizza, where you just throw everything on".[47] Watson added: "[It’s] probably gonna be less
rock again and more electronic again, even more than the last one".[48] Parker later stated that the
inspiration behind the new polished sound of Tame Impala's third album came from listening to
a Fleetwood Mac song. He said that the pureness and cleanness of Fleetwood Mac's song prompted him
to attempt to create a more streamlined musical style within Currents.[49]
On 11 March 2015, a new song entitled "Let It Happen" was released as a free download.[52]
On 5 April 2015, Tame Impala announced and released the album cover for Currents in a Facebook post.
A few hours later the band released the first official single from the upcoming album on Facebook called
"'Cause I'm a Man".[53] Later that month, on 22 April 2015, Tame Impala officially released "Let it
Happen" as the second single from the album. One week later, on 29 April 2015, Kevin Parker held an
AMA on Reddit, where he provoked fans to ask him to release a new song, then responding with
"Disciples", which became the first promotional single for Currents. On 7 May 2015, the band
announced that the album would be released on 17 July 2015 and released the third official single,
"Eventually".[8]
During the same 30 April 2015 reddit AMA, Parker said, "Up until recently, from all of Tame Impala's
record sales outside of Australia I had received.... zero dollars. Someone high up spent the money before
it got to me. I may never get that money."[54]
By the end of 2017, Tame Impala announced that they agreed to play the 2018 Mad Cool musical
concert in Spain, which would be the first live music show the band agreed to play in 2018.[55] Tame
Impala also played a headline set at London's Citadel Festival in July 2018.
In July 2018, during an interview with Beats 1 anchor host Matt Wilkinson, Parker confirmed for the first
time that he had begun working on a new Tame Impala album, adding that he was "ready to play some
other songs live" and expressing an interest to headline a stage at Glastonbury Festival in 2019. He also
stated that he would be "very disappointed" if the new record by Tame Impala wasn't released by
summer 2019.[56]
On 1 July 2018, Tame Impala teamed up with artist ZHU to create the single "My Life".[citation needed]
On 10 October, the band was scheduled to headline the first night of the annual Desert Daze festival in
its new location in Moreno Beach, but had to cut their set short after three songs due to inclement
weather.[58]
On 31 October, rapper Theophilus London released a new single in collaboration with Tame Impala
under the moniker of "Theo Impala".[59]
On 2 January 2019, Tame Impala was announced as a headliner for the 2019 Coachella Valley Music and
Arts Festival. They also headlined the 2020 Primavera Sound festival, making them only the second
Australian act to do so. Around the same time, Parker announced that he expected to release a new
album during that summer.[60][61] The 2020 album is named The Slow Rush and features 12 tracks
recorded in Los Angeles and in Parker's hometown of Fremantle, Australia.[62]
On 21 March, Tame Impala released the single "Patience",[63] and has teased new music on Instagram for
the forthcoming album.[64] They were the musical guest for Saturday Night Live on 30 March, with
host Sandra Oh.[65] On the show, the band performed "Patience" and a new song, "Borderline",[66] which
was released 12 April.[67] On 25 October, Tame Impala revealed the title of their fourth studio album, The
Slow Rush. Three days later on 28 October, they released the song "It Might Be Time". On 3 December,
Tame Impala released the single "Posthumous Forgiveness". The album was released on 14 February
2020.
Josh Terry of Vice named Tame Impala his "Artist of the Decade" for the 2010s, writing, "No artist
captured how genres cross-pollinated throughout the 2010s better than Tame Impala". He added: "In
the age of streaming and the big-box festival bubble, Parker's discography seems factory-made for both
a crowd of thousands and a chill night alone with a vibe-heavy playlist" and that "his music embodies
the technology-driven sense of loneliness of this decade better than any of his peers".[68]
"The Less I Know the Better" was voted number one in Triple J's Hottest 100 of the Decade on 14 March
2020. This was the highest ranking for Tame Impala in a Hottest 100 Countdown and the first the project
had attained number one in any Hottest 100 (the same song had previously placed fourth in the 2015
Hottest 100).[69]
On 20 March 2020, Parker appeared on The Weeknd's album After Hours, producing and providing
background vocals on a track called "Repeat After Me (Interlude)". At the 2020 ARIA Music Awards in
November, Tame Impala won a further five trophies: Album of the Year, Best Group, Best Rock Album,
Engineer of the Year and Producer of the Year for The Slow Rush.[70]
In October 2021, the band announced a deluxe box set edition of The Slow Rush would be released in
February 2022.[71]
In March 2021, the band's 2012 song 'Elephant', from Lonerism, was covered by the Australian children's
music group The Wiggles for triple j's Like a Version segment. The Wiggles' cover version went on to
place at #1 in 2021's Hottest 100.
Musical style[edit]
Parker's decision to make the music for Tame Impala in the studio by himself is a result of Parker liking
"the kind of music that is the result of one person constructing an awesome symphony of sound. You
can layer your own voice 700 times for half a second if you want, and I just love that kind of music".
[72]
However, Parker has to translate his music to a live setting with the band, and the band doesn't play
the songs until they have been recorded. "The only jamming that's done as a band is done a long time
after the song is recorded for the sake of the live environment. It's good for us, because we can take a
song that's been recorded and do what we want to it: slow it down, speed it up, make it 10 seconds or
10 minutes long. It gives us a lot of freedom."[73]
Parker's process for making music is "I’ll have a sudden, spontaneous vision of a song, have all the parts
mapped out in mind, and do my best to record it as quick as I can. I’ll find my eight-track and do a quick
demo of just the riff, or a verse or a chorus. The song will go for like 30 seconds. I’ll have a whole bunch
of them [demos] and then I’ll just choose which ones to make into full songs".[73] Parker has a strong
sense of melody in his music, having composed "excessively melodic music from about the age of 12 to
15".[76] For Parker, the music comes before the lyrics, "I usually write the lyrics after the melody and its
timing have been decided. But the words have to be meaningful. I try to synchronise certain words with
the best parts of the melody, but it can be really difficult and does my head in. I like to keep the meaning
pretty open and ambiguous so that it's not just me that gets something out of the lyrics. I usually write
lyrics from a persona rather than tell a specific story."[77] Parker also said "Usually I am sufficiently
motivated to think of new songs everyday, but I usually forget them. I seem to get an emotional kick out
of sensing feelings of general desperation or hopelessness, whether it's me or someone near me or
someone in a movie or anything. It's really difficult to sit down and force yourself to write a song, and
that forced nature usually comes out in the song so I just have to wait until they come to me."[77]
Influences[edit]
Tame Impala's music and live visuals are heavily influenced by psychedelic music.
Parker's music is heavily influenced by late 1960s and early 1970s psychedelic rock.[78] He has stated that
he has a "fetish for extremely sugary pop music" from artists like Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue.
[77]
Parker also enjoys "fucked-up explosive cosmic music" in the vein of The Flaming Lips,[79] with whom
Tame Impala collaborated on the track "Children of the Moon"; the song appeared on the band's 2012
collaborative album The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends.[80]
Combining these two things, My Bloody Valentine have influenced Parker's music with their contrasting
combination of loud guitars and ethereal melodies. Parker has "always been in love with the wall of
sound as employed by My Bloody Valentine" and he tries to capture that "melancholy dreamy feel".
[81]
Parker tries to incorporate this balance into his own music. "If I was singing, I wouldn't be able to
match the tone of the instruments, which is really crunchy. The instruments are quite sonically brutal,
but the voice is really soft, and I think that kind of resonates with people. It's kind of like My Bloody
Valentine, where it's really brutal sounding, but kind of beautiful at the same time".[82] Tame Impala live
drummer Jay Watson has described Parker's music as containing "shoegazey guitar sound, but not
played in a shoegazey manner".[83]
Electronic music is another influence. Parker has used rock instrumentation in an electronic manner,
saying "The way we do music, it's organic, but it's meant to be quite repetitive and hypnotic, almost in a
kind of electronic nature. Using our playing as though it was a living sample".[84] A heavy feature
on Innerspeaker is a pitch-shifted guitar tone that many mistook for a synth. Parker mentioned this by
saying "I had a few obsessions when recording Innerspeaker. One was to make the guitars sound like
synths and drums sound like drum samples and pretty much anything except guitars and drums. I'm
obsessed with confusing people as to the origin of a sound."[77] He has described his dream collaboration
as "probably [being] someone really, really kind of fucked up", citing the electronic artists Aphex
Twin and Squarepusher as examples: "You know, someone that would like scare me, but I'd be able to
see how they do all their really insanely headcase stuff and I'd be able to learn from it."[85]
Parker was inspired to take up various creative endeavours at a young age, "I used to draw a lot when I
was very young, and I used to get the most immense feeling of satisfaction from finishing a picture and
looking back at it, even though I wasn't actually that good. When I started playing music I got the same
feeling from making a song, even if it was just a few noises or drum patterns put together. It was all
about the buzz from making something from nothing. Music always affected me greatly as a listener
anyway, usually from listening to music in my dad's car or listening to him play guitar."[77]
Lo-fi music is also a favourite of Parker's, and he incorporated it heavily in the early days of Tame
Impala, heard prominently on the Tame Impala EP. With the release of Innerspeaker, Parker went for a
different approach to a lo-fi sound, aiming more for a more cosmic and sonic wall of sound, helped by
mixer Dave Fridmann. Parker explained "It sounds more cohesive, like an organism. It has a different
emotion to it, it brings out a different feeling when it's absolutely blaring at you. I love that sound."[73]
Parker has also stated that Supertramp, one of his favourite bands, are a major influence on the musical
style of Tame Impala. Despite their difference in sound, he feels he is always somewhat "channeling
Supertramp".[86] He has said that listening to the Bee Gees on mushrooms inspired him to change the
sound of the music he was making on Currents.[87]
Members[edit]
Studio[edit]
Live[edit]
Jay Watson – drums (2007–2012); synthesiser, guitar, backing vocals (2012–present); bass guitar
(2021–present)
Dominic Simper – bass guitar (2007–2010); guitar, synthesiser, keyboards (2010–present)
Discography[edit]
Innerspeaker (2010)
Lonerism (2012)
Currents (2015)
References[edit]
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