Tame Impala : The Slow Rush - Album review

Tame Impala : The Slow Rush - Album review.

By Holly Pritchard.

Back after five years to cure our withdrawal, Kevin Parker has arrived to feed our heads with Tame Impala’s new album; The Slow Rush. While still maintaining that recognisable psychedelic signature sound, this album has moved away from guitar strumming rock and progressed to dance-pop melodies.

Parker’s fourth album, the follow-up to Currents, will not disappoint. It will suck you in and soak you up in love, giving you all the feels whilst all you can do is absorb. After a dark, cold and gloomy winter, this is just the escapism we have long been waiting for to get away, get lost on, lose all sense of self and simply ride its trippy waves.

Easing the listener into a gentle tumble down the rabbit hole is track ‘One More Year’ with a hypnotic beat and lustful synth, this dance track is funky and fresh with a beautiful blend of disco elements to stimulate your serotonin, generate some feel good vibes and titillate the senses. 

‘Borderline’ is a particular stand-out track for its catchy but slow, tense march upwards to an interesting and satisfying release allowing the rush to take hold as it kicks in and flows through like a summer breeze.

With a stroke of his musical genius, Parker has managed to create a cocktail of 70’s disco funk with 90’s trance, amongst other elements with new levels and layers to discover, as we are teleported through the decades.

‘Tomorrow’s Dust’ is warm and hazy and with eyes closed it could astral project you straight onto an Ibizan beach right outside Café Del Mar where you will be drinking in the delicious sunset, feeling fuzzy with a happy soul and watching as the day draws to a close. As the lyrics say: ‘…the end of today is tomorrow’s dust.’

This album feels like a passage through time, gazing onwards through the cosmos into the future and deep unknown, experiencing and appreciating the present, all that is perfect and all that is not then finally, a turn to glance back in acknowledgement and understanding such as ‘Lost In Yesterday’.

Throughout the album we are also given a slight glimpse into an Arcadian paradise island somewhere where Parker now spends his newly married life. The Slow Rush will leave you feeling warm and light with soft buzzes and a gentle kiss. It is a wonderful way to take us into the sunnier seasons ahead.

Ending this journey, the track, ’One More Hour’ feels like some kind of slow, slightly turbulent at times, awakening from a wonderful dream whilst floating in a sensory deprivation tank as it releases us back into reality as we know it. We are left with only memories to hold on to and reflection to take away from it - and wanting to do it all again.

Published: 20-Feb-2020 (5778)