Tame Impala: Currents

Intentional or not, subtexts always find their way into Kevin Parker’s music. Innerspeaker was as much about the hypercompressed, mind-altering sound of Tame Impala’s debut as it was the insistent voice in Parker’s head. The follow-up Lonerism was a double-edged sword, equal parts lament and liberation, with its gleaming core forged on a mad binge of ‘70s psychedelia and classic rock turned reverently inward. The undercurrent of Currents—in the sense of modern, or uncharted waters, or a shock to the system—is transformation. As Parker sings in his distinctly Lennonesque timbre on “Yes I’m Changing,” a breezy synth ballad with an ‘80s heart: “And if you don’t think it’s a crime, you can come along with me.” Whether the band’s rabid fanbase will embrace the invitation or run screaming, time will tell; the first single “’Cause I’m a Man,” with its bedroom pop sheen, couldn’t sound less like Lonerism if Prince recorded it (without the cavernous reverb, of course), but there’s a raucous abandon to “The Less I Know the Better” and the upbeat hot take “Disciples” that signals curvy new ripples throughout. Same Impala? Not this time, mate.