GutterPutter

Kevin Parker, an Australian musician with a specialty in psychedelia, had once played for Pond and the Dee Dee Dums in the beginning of his career. Fans will know him best as the brain, heart, and soul of Tame Impala which is his project where he makes all the music himself and plays live with a consistent lineup of touring members. Especially with the one-two-three combo of 2010’s Innerspeaker, Lonerism for 2012, and a 2015 cap in Currents, Parker cements himself as one of the key alternative names in the 2010s. Artists who sought to mimic the otherworldliness of psych-rock or pop are much more likely to turn to Tame Impala than others in having just about the right amount of accessibility to balance out the vividity.

Parker does not shy away from his electronic influences which help him to enable his works’ more eclectic side. He explicitly names Aphex Twin and Squarepusher, two leading pioneers of intelligent dance music in the 1990s, as the artists he would like to collaborate with from an interview with Pitchfork. Many of his songs often see the production mold the guitar notes or other instruments so drastically that many mistake it for either a synth or an electronic equipment like a drum machine. The electronica bloodline informs so much of what makes Tame Impala so beloved that five years since his last album The Slow Rush, Parker worked with French dance music duo Justice last year on their EP Neverender as well as with Diana Ross for ‘Turn Up the Sunshine’ for the soundtrack of the animated film Minions: The Rise of Gru in 2022.

These divergences form the basis of Deadbeat which is described by the press release as being inspired by Australia’s rave scene. If you are looking for the good ol’ psychedelic rock from Tame Impala, this album only has a few traces of it. It’s built on dance music in and of itself which is noticeable from the intro track ‘My Old Ways’ with its arpeggiated piano playing, its common time heartbeat, and sizzling hi-hats that build up. The result is frankly promising; Parker’s experience with doing everything on his own allows him to meticulously structure his music that compliments every addition and every mixing along the way. This is notable as well in ‘Dracula’ and ‘Oblivion’ with its varying vocal manipulations and thrilling reverbs that takes you out of your mind and into an ethereal sort of experience.

However, Deadbeat feels imbalanced in how big a step Parker took to not include rock tropes within his music. In relying entirely on electronica, Tame Impala’s quality varies massively between tracks where it could either be serviceable, even enjoyable, house bop or d-list Animal Collective throwaways. ‘No Reply’ got the short end of the stick as the fast tempo collides with the awkward high notes and meandering lyrics that allude to anxieties and nostalgia. Its mismatched combo is saved mostly by the melodic pinch of piano playing a second-third of the way throughout the song. ‘Not My World’ sought to compliment the percussive rhythm that is reminiscent of UK-based Burial with the theme of detachment, hinted best by the faded lo-fi mixing from the singing. It’s an attempt at lyrical dissonance, but the execution instead is one more built on humdrum boredom than derealisation. The natural harmonics and synth in the last quarter feels like an unpolished LCD Soundsystem trial. A similar problem persists in ‘Ethereal Collection’ with its attempted subversion of the drill-n-bass formula that fails to match the high tempo or notable switches that’s known from Squarepusher.

It would be tempting to call this album the confirmation that Tame Impala is washed up from the weak deep cuts. The reality is that every now and then, Parker shows some creative intuition to spice up his music even if the addition might not be enough to save it entirely. ‘Obsolete’, for instance, has a bouncy bassline that’s similar to your average funk song that is both hypnotic once you notice it and nuanced enough in mixing to slide with the other tunes. Yet, the vocal delivery feels inappropriately sensual in the sense that it neither elevates the focus on jealousy as is the case with ‘Dancing on My Own’ by Robyn nor does it draw your attention towards the feeling of inferiority. ‘Piece of Heaven’ sounds gorgeous with its violin-like synths that truly sound divine. Such a cathartic bit is rendered a bit flat from the surrounding electronic beats that crescend over the course of the track which makes too explicit its ode-like love to music-making.

The last three tracks sum up the general impression of Deadbeat where its maximalist use of production collides with the sense of inconsistency over the exact structures of the song. ‘See You on Monday (You’re Lost)’ feels overloaded in its synths and vocal layering which shows how the relatively maximalist kind of studio usage can dull the whole experience. ‘Afterthought’ however sees its phaser and bassline align with the disco-like vocal delivery from Parker which makes for a relatively infectious deep cut. Finally, ‘End of Summer’ encapsulates much of the album be it its best or its worst aspects. The titillating beat from the drum machine against the unwarranted and obnoxious vocoding. Its small bits of ambient pauses against the repetition that is more drony than the worst-made drone music. The creative inclusion of vocal mixing and sampling against the hollow directionlessness of the second half. It’s a conclusion that may not change how you feel about the album in the end aside from confirming your impression.

Deadbeat, as the fifth album of Tame Impala, is as psychedelic as one would expect with its elaborate use of the studio as an instrument and its very alien atmosphere. Outside of that, it might well be the one to make or break the fandom on how they feel about the music project’s trajectory. As someone who mostly listens to the singles like ‘The Less I Know the Better’ or ‘Let It Happen’, Deadbeat as a whole didn’t feel like it matches with the best impression I have of Tame Impala. Its sharp turn towards being dance-based with house influences makes for one of the many examples where a left-turn genre switch is a clear risk even for experienced artists who had already dabbled in it as part of their music. Would a certain section of the following enjoy it? For sure. Would it introduce prospective listeners to the project? Maybe. It isn’t however the next Kid A or Pet Sounds for sure and for a good while, many will be divided over whether it’s an endeavour worth taking. I think it could have been much better, but I also feel that it’s not as painfully bad as some are likely going to chalk it down as.

2.5/5