NOTE: This show has been canceled due to coronavirus restrictions.
Australian band Tame Impala has fans from just about every musical scene and subculture—that even includes pop superstar Rihanna, who covered their track “New Person, Same Old Mistakes” on her acclaimed 2016 album, ANTI.
After a five-year gap between albums, Tame Impala’s new project The Slow Rush finds bandleader Kevin Parker weaving hip-hop drums and house music’s exuberant pulse into his expansive, psychedelic rock. The Slow Rush has a smoother, more pop-oriented approach than Parker’s previous releases, but that doesn’t make it generic.
The multi-instrumentalist’s omnivorous tastes lead each track to surprising places, like the pensive “Posthumous Forgiveness.” The song is full of tense, building surf-guitar riffs as Parker contemplates his complicated relationship with a father who wasn’t there for him, ultimately coming to an understanding of him as a man. The track’s R&B coda resolves the tension and brings a sense of peace that mirrors Parker’s emotional journey in the lyrics.
In the studio, Parker mostly works alone, but Tame Impala’s live shows bring out his music’s complex layers and sentimental undercurrents with a full band and stunning visuals. (At Treasure Island Music Festival in Oakland two years ago, they bathed the stage in a trippy light show and then showered the audience in confetti.) Tame Impala performs Friday, March 13, at the Chase Center in San Francisco. Details here.—Nastia Voynovskaya
