Deadbeat: Perhaps the Tame(st) Impala Has Ever Sounded
By Alisha Xu ‘27
On Friday, October 17, Tame Impala, the one-man project of Australian singer-songwriter and producer Kevin Parker, released its fifth studio album, Deadbeat, half a decade after the release of its previous record, The Slow Rush. The album cover of Deadbeat, a black-and-white candid photo of Parker and his daughter, Peach, is a striking departure from his signature visual style. Gone are the psychedelic landscapes, Microgramma font, and kaleidoscopic imagery. Instead, Parker centers himself on the cover for the first time, perhaps signaling the introspective nature of the music within.
Deadbeat arrives amidst high expectations. Parker’s last two albums, Currents (2015) and The Slow Rush (2020), solidified his reputation as a meticulous sound architect capable of fusing psychedelic pop with electronic sophistication. The Slow Rush topped charts in Australia and reached the top three in both the US and UK, while Currents earned him a Brit Award and critical acclaim as one of the defining records of the 2010s. Earlier this year, Parker even won his first Grammy Award for Best Dance/ Electronic Recording for “Neverender,” a collaboration with electronic duo Justice.
The buildup to Deadbeat’s release was cryptic but deliberate. On July 18, Parker mysteriously listed an unnamed vinyl for preorder. A few days later, on July 22, he revealed the album’s first single, “End of Summer,” followed by “Loser” on September 3, and finally another single, “Dracula,” shortly before the album’s release. Each of these songs came with its own striking visual identity in its music video.
The nine-minute video for “End of Summer” splits into two simultaneous frames: one showing Parker in the studio and the other in sunny outdoor spaces. This formatting mirrors the juxtaposition between introspection and experience within the song. The visuals evoke fragmented memories, gestures, and transitions, which could represent a blurred line between Parker’s personal and artistic selves. “Loser,” by contrast, is more literal. Joe Keery (also known as Djo, or Steve Harrington from Stranger Things) plays a downcast protagonist wandering through a dilapidated convenience store and brooding over heartbreak. The music video contemplates the insecurity and failure of the protagonist’s breakup; though, in Parker’s case, the “breakup” is less romantic, rather more of a creative, symbolic farewell to the style that defined him in his previous albums. Finally, the music video for “Dracula” embodies eerie nocturnal themes, with Parker leading a surreal desert rave as dawn approaches, capturing Australia’s “bush doof” scene, the country’s iconic rural rave culture. (Side note: “Dracula” also happens to be the perfect Halloween song.)
Deadbeat both expands and contracts the Tame Impala universe. The opening track, “My Old Ways,” begins with a mellow piano tune with Parker’s bare vocals before the beat drops into a sleek disco-house groove. The production is an impeccable combination of synth layers, percussion, and pulse, yet it feels strangely muted, and perhaps not the best choice for opening the album. Gone are the iconic, beloved guitar melodies from Lonerism, Tame Impala’s second studio album, and the euphoric swells from Currents.
Across twelve tracks and fifty-six minutes, Parker trades his psych-rock style for a minimalist electronic palette inspired by “bush doof.” Perhaps because of this, I found myself bored halfway through certain tracks, such as “Ethereal Connection,” which included too much hypnotic repetition in the beginning. Lyrically, Parker circles around familiar themes like guilt, indecision, and the pressure to change.
When I first listened to this album, Parker’s pristine production and impeccable mixing were still undeniably present, but the sense of discovery that once defined Tame Impala flickered inconsistently. Perhaps that is the point. Deadbeat is an album about exhaustion. Its title doubles as self-depreciation and self-awareness, maybe a reflection on Parker’s conflicted impulses to evolve versus to retreat.
Overall, Deadbeat might be—intentionally—the tamest Tame Impala has sounded; it may or may not be the euphoric return fans hoped for. However, even at his most subdued, Parker remains one of modern music’s most fascinating artists.