The Deal with “Deadbeat”

Nora Geoghegan

Staff Writer

On Oct. 17th, Tame Impala (A.K.A. Kevin Parker) released his highly anticipated fifth studio album “Deadbeat”, and it did not disappoint.

The sonic nature of the album is something new and exciting. It borders towards more club type music, as opposed to his usual allegiance to the psychedelic pop and rock genres featured in his cult classic albums “Lonerism” and “Currents.” Given this creative leap, he did a great job executing the vision and the sound for this record.

Tracks like. “My Old Ways”, “Afterthought”, and “Dracula” are particularly hypnotic in their instrumentals and lyrics. I find myself constantly quoting the line from “Dracula”, “My friends are saying shut up Kevin just get in the car” with a female voice yelling “Kevin” in the background. In addition, the bass line in “Obsolete” is a current ear worm as well and is inspiring me to learn it myself!

This album particularly came to life and hypnotized me even further when Tame Impala and his live band performed a few tracks off the album at A24’s Cherry Lane Theatre that was published on YouTube. The acoustics and live instruments came alive in the echo of the room. These tracks and others off “Deadbeat” sounded particularly amazing when I saw TikTok’s of them being played live on his tour (I’m anxiously waiting for Boston tour dates to be put out)!

However, certain tracks like “Ethereal Connections” and “See You Monday (You’re Lost)” fell a little bit short given the instrumentals accompanying the tracks. Despite that, I enjoyed these tracks lyrically.

Others have taken it further by saying the album was boring, and the tamest Tame Impala has ever sounded. Despite my dislike for only a few tracks, I was incredibly pleased with how Tame Impala brought the sounds of the Australian desert to life in a way only capable through the magic that is Tame Impala’s musical genius.

Personally, I think the negative discourse arises from listeners expecting to get multiple versions of tracks that are copy and paste versions of “Currents” and “The Slow Rush.” When in reality, Kevin Parker is naturally going to expand his musical portfolio by trying new ways of creating music and experimenting with different genres.

Moreover, despite discourse saying that this is Tame Impala’s worst album to date, “Deadbeat” exceeded my expectations and has many songs I’ll be listening to on repeat!