Kevin Parker releases new album after 5 years: it was worth the wait

Kevin Parker, the genius behind Tame Impala, released his fourth studio album The Slow Rush on Feb. 14, 2020. The album comes five years after the critically acclaimed Currents album was released.

The Slow Rush is a brilliant album, from start to finish, and Parker leaves nothing off the table for his fourth album. Parker is one of the most unique sounds in music at the moment — his retro-futuristic style is impossible to mistake. His use of soundboards, looping pedals, and traditional instruments gives the Tame Impala music catalog its distinctive sound.

The album took longer to come out than some fans may have liked, but in a review of The Slow Rush by Jillian Mapes of Pitchfork, the album was finished in April 2019, but Parker didn’t feel the album was ready. He spent the year playing live sets and tinkering with the album. Mapes noted that Parker was playing a set in November 2019 when he couldn’t stop thinking of different changes to make to the album. Mapes believes that the wait led to a better album overall, saying that Parker ensures that every second of the album is done exactly the way he envisioned.

In an interview with Australian radio station ‘triple j’, Parker discussed the theme of the album: time. He spoke about his fascination with the way people relate to time which he said can create many different emotions. Parker added that his personal relationship with time was a deep source of inspiration when creating The Slow Rush.

I thoroughly enjoyed the entire album. It has a great blend of melancholy and slow songs like “Posthumous Forgiveness,” “On Track,” and the more disco-esque “One More Year” and “Borderline.” My favorite track on the album is “Lost in Yesterday” which focuses the theme of nostalgia and remembering the past as being better than it was.

The Slow Rush is a stellar album and a brilliant follow up to the previous album Currents. It was well worth the five year wait.