Deadbeat

the take

Oh Kevin…just get in the car. Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker will always hold a special place in my heart. The project holds well thought out pieces like “My Old Ways”, “Piece of Heaven”, and “No Reply” that take the listener on a journey through various streams of consciousness, but these do the heavy lifting as far as depth goes. On the other hand, tracks like “End of Summer”, “Ethereal Connection”, and “Afterthought” seem to be Ableton preloaded house beats with a Tame Impala feature. Although they are still enjoyable (and most likely will be built into the live performance in a beautiful way), they fall far short of my personal expectations for a generational artist. I myself am a big house music fan…but these tracks weren’t it. That being said, Kevin still gave the fan base plenty of “bangers” to appease those like me that hold the artist to larger-than-life expectations. The second single, “Loser”, is a captivating track that delivers the unique guitar mix that garnered so much love for projects like Currents and Lonerism. “Dracula” was the perfect single to release to build hype for the album as it is easily digestible and commands the listener to move in some way, shape, or fashion. Although the tracks wouldtop chats with the rhythm and name attached to their release, the depth of these is what keeps me from tanking this project’s score. All in all, I’m happy to have new experiences with Kevin’s release, but the dogsh*t quality of those house tracks will always be a stain on this otherwise beautiful piece.