Tame Impala - Slow Rush

Sound Audits

Starting off their career as psychedelic explorers, the Australian band Tame Impala spent a decade subverting expectations and mutating their sound in fascinating ways, as well as being an inspiration to musicians as diverse as Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Lady Gaga. Guided by the musical prowess of Kevin Parker, the band's 2010 debut album Innerspeaker was a huge, loud guitar rock album dipped in swirling psychedelic colors. The follow-up Lonerism (2012) dialed down the guitars in favor of a more expansive style, after which Parker swerved into a poppier sound that brought in hip-hop (2015's Currents) and disco influences (2020's The Slow Rush) while upping the sugar content of the hooks. It proved to be a winning approach, and by decade's end, Parker was collaborating with some of the biggest artists on Earth (Kanye, Travis Scott) while the band was selling out stadiums and tons of records.

After a long rollout that saw the band debuting new songs on Saturday Night Live in May of 2019, and a steady trickle of singles seeing the light of day as Parker continued to tinker with the album, The Slow Rush was released in early 2020, just before the band launched a worldwide tour.