CD of The Week

Tame Impala - The Slow Rush (Interscope / Fiction)

The wait is over! It's been five years since Tame Impala released Currents, their breakthrough psych-pop third album, and with the Valentine's Day release of The Slow Rush, we can all agree it was well worth it. A few morsels in 2019 revealed what Kevin Parker had been up to. Specifically "Patience," a single released earlier in the year that ultimately did not make it on to the full length, and "Borderline" which was debuted during the band's appearance on Saturday Night Live. "It Might Be Time," released late in the year, prophetically signaled the album's eventual release.

On The Slow Rush, Parker, known for his perfectionist studio wizardry, delivers an amazing psychedelic potpourri of disco, funk, soft-rock, '80s R&B, and '90s trip-hop. Fans of the nostalgia conjured up by Air and MGMT in the late '90s and early '00s will find lots to love here.

"Breathe Deeper" dives headfirst into some slinky "Sexual Healing" -era Marvin Gaye, while "It Might Be Time" evokes a long-lost Supertramp piano groove. "Posthumous Forgiveness" is a two-part ode to his late father, first as a 10cc-esque sounding pronouncement of disappointment, and then as a synth-heavy reconciliation of sorts; "[I know] You're just a man, after all / And I know you have demons, I got some of my own."

Overall, the vibe on The Slow Rush is positive and uplifting. The man who was once a self-proclaimed loner (his second album was coined Lonerism) is celebrating newfound love and the prospects of a future filled with the best of what the world has to offer. On "Lost In Yesterday" he challenges those who cling to bad memories; "And you're gonna have to let it go someday / You've been digging it up like Groundhog's Day."

Knowing how fastidious Parker is, we might not get another album any time soon, but after four mesmerizing releases over the last 10 years, we've got plenty to revisit for years to come.
Review by Dave Lindquist