Tame Impala’s fifth album finds Kevin Parker diving into house-inspired production, but the result feels hollow, marking his weakest and least inspired work yet.

15 years ago Kevin Parker introduced Tame Impala to the world with Innerspeaker. It was every music nerd and stoner dude’s dream: Parker’s vocals channeled Sgt. Pepper era John Lennon and melodically, it was the arguably more accessible modern answer to the psychedelic rock sound that dominated most of the late 1960’s. However, it was the transition into psych-disco infused pop on Currents that propelled the musician toward real stardom. It was clear he’d found his groove in the soaring combination of guitar and wildly distorted synth beats that defined the album so it was really no surprise when 2020’s The Slow Rush took the accessibility of its predecessor, combined it with elements of hip-hop and house and produced another musical earworm.

You’d think that such success would drive the singer to create another album in a similar vein, instead Deadbeat teeters into territory that lies somewhere between mid house and mid techno. Perhaps this transition was to be expected given ‘Neverender’ and ‘One Night/All Night’, the songs Parker made in collaboration with French electronic duo Justice last year but it still feels a world apart from the Tame Impala we’ve all grown to know and love. Where his previous works were better suited to be played to fields of people under the warmth of the evening summer sun, this record feels like it was made for shit bros, designed to boom loudly out of club speakers as the night slowly blurs from one too many expensive plastic cups full of spirit-mixer combo.

Previously, Parker’s writing centred on his experiences of loneliness and isolation, the transformative period that follows after a breakup and the passage of time. His life has changed quite drastically in the five years since he last released an album, thanks to the birth of his two children and it’s perhaps parenthood that is largely responsible for the fact that on this album, he has turned the lens inward to examine the behaviours of his past selves and how they’ve shaped who he is now. Naturally, it’s some of his most vulnerable writing to date: ‘My Old Ways’ sees him be overly self aware of his tendency to fall back into old habits despite actively trying to change his behaviour and on ‘No Reply’ he battles with the internal struggle of wanting to make a good impression but simultaneously worrying about being too much or inauthentic.

In fact, this album despite the mostly upbeat tinkerings that back the musings on it, is largely ruled by a kind of melancholy. Maybe the novelty of adulthood and suddenly not being as young and spritely as he once was has finally worn off. ‘Dracula’ is centred on partying all night, running from the daylight in an effort to keep the momentum going, this in tandem with promotion tactics falling to DJ gigs across the world rather than a normal touring schedule feels like the singer doing his very best to cling on to the most normal life he can fathom now his world has changed completely.

There are stand out tracks like ‘Piece of Heaven’, ‘Obsolete’ and ‘Oblivion’ but ultimately, Deadbeat as a whole leaves the listener yearning for something more. Change is always great and welcomed with open arms but connecting with the music that makes up this record feels much harder than with previous efforts.