Released: 14th February 2020
Rating: ★★★★
Kevin Parker finds himself in fresh waters, both in terms of spirit and standing. With the indisputable greatness of ‘Currents’, he not only created Tame Impala’s greatest album but also a record that stands head and shoulders above the rest as arguably one of the defining records of the past decade. It’s taken Tame Impala across the globe as a powerhouse festival headliner, and arena-filling titan, all with an emphatic sound that has reconnected new generations with psychedelica in a way most didn’t think was even possible. So the question now goes “how do you follow that?”. It’s something ‘The Slow Rush’ wears in expectation but quickly dispenses of. As the next move on the Tame Impala chessboard, Kevin Parker has pulled out a bold one.
Whereas ‘Currents’ was packed with synth-pop gems that unravelled in countless directions, ‘The Slow Rush’ feels like Kevin Parker bringing that magic down to earth with an assured and confident record full of contrasting sounds and styles. The beauty is that they fit so effortlessly into each and every groove. ‘Is It True’ bounces pure disco-funk against the R&B builds and space-house heights of ‘Breathe Deeper’. The hands-in-the-air synth drive of ‘Instant Destiny’ catches the eye of the striding ‘Lost In Yesterday’ – the latter finding Kevin Parker embraced in the time of his life.
Fully immersed in itself, its emotional core reverberates larger – a journey through time both in nostalgic smiles and jealous hope in its joys and despairs. Screaming at the world (‘It Might Be Time’), gazing into the future (‘One More Year’) and struggling with loss (‘Posthumous Forgiveness’) all play their undeniable part in an album that in Tame Impala’s greatest moment of success, stops for a second and looks within Kevin Parker. He finds himself in fresh new waters, but with ‘The Slow Rush’, Tame Impala are walking on the surface with an untouchable confidence.
Jamie Muir
