Tame Impala - The Slow Rush

Tame Impala
The Slow Rush
2020
Spotify

Some people say The Slow Rush is a year too late. Kevin Parker was supposed to release this record before his Coachella performance last year, bringing the new record too the world. Parker held the record though and instead did another circle around the Currents track. Now Currents had some long songs, but this new record takes it even a step further. Every track feels like it should be two, or even three. Instead your subjected to seven and six minute songs that I just don't see how anyone is going to go back and listen to again. I understand that artists want "the album" to be the focus, we should sit and be with the entire piece in order to understand it. The thing is, the enjoyable moments don't make the slow ones more bearable. The verses on "Instant Destiny" are kind of wonderful, but the chorus is so fucking annoying you just bide your time until it's over. By the time you find a real groove with something Parker seems to get bored and move on. This record feels like a detailed undertaking, but almost to it's detriment. There is so much thinking and so much detail that the fun gets a bit lost. You don't have those high highs, and the lows are much lower. The Slow Rush as the name indicates feels unhurried, there are little stakes and even fewer exuberant releases. Currents would build tension just to create this massive release, but this record never really pays of what it sets up.

It's sort of a fools errand to try and compare one album to the next, because who knows what place that artist is actually in. The Slow Rush was always going to be different from Currents but I didn't expect it to be as self indulgent as it is. This is music for Tame Impala, and if you happen to like it well that seems to work for Kevin Parker too. There are many parts to like, but also many parts that feel like filler or time wasting. But at the end of the day, I still like this record and it's better than so much of what is being put out these days. It may not be the perfect Tame Impala record, but at least it's A Tame Impala record.

7.7 out of 10