By: Eric Mulligan
On July 17, 2015, Tame Impala’s “Currents” was released. Five years and countless listens later, I’m still as entranced by the album as I was when I first heard the exquisitely fuzzy disco-inspired bass line of “The Less I Know the Better”.
That track, which is arguably the most popular song ever released by Kevin Parker’s psychedelic one-man band, turned me on to the rest of its parent album when it popped up in my Spotify recommendations one fateful day in 2016. My musical interests would never be quite the same again.
That may sound melodramatic, but it’s true. Before “Currents”, my knowledge of indie synth music did not extend much beyond songs like “Kids” by MGMT and Phoenix’s “Lisztomania” and “1901”. The songs on “Currents” were decidedly different from such radio-friendly pop-rock, and their style appealed to me in a way I didn’t fully understand.
What I did understand all too well was that listening to Parker’s lilting, echoey vocals awash in a sea of humming synthesizers and underscored by a pounding drum machine and bass line for a good 50 minutes, still left me wanting more. I had no choice but to dive into the psychedelic synths of bands like Pond, STRFKR and Beach House to satisfy my craving, which in turn exposed me to genres of music I would have likely never discovered otherwise.
In hindsight, it’s no wonder that “Currents” resonated as strongly with me as it did. The lyrics were as personal, angsty and profane as those of any pop-punk song, a genre I adored at the time. The album’s themes of transition, growth and aging spoke to many of the same conflicting feelings I was experiencing as a high school senior and would go on to experience as a college freshman.
The sound of “Currents” was certainly different from any music I had heard previously, but to be fair, it was even a vastly different sound from Tame Impala’s two previous albums. 2010’s “Innerspeaker” and 2012’s “Lonerism” were more inspired by psychedelic rock and made great use of distorted guitars. On “Currents”, the guitar is still present, but it essentially plays a supporting role to the synths.
The fact that “Currents”’ sound is novel within Tame Impala’s discography is one reason why I hesitate to call myself a fan of the band. I must admit that I don’t particularly care for most of their earlier work. While I enjoyed this year’s “The Slow Rush”, it only had a few tracks that really resonated with me. So why do I like “Currents” so much?
The best answer to that question is that “Currents” is maybe the purest pop album Tame Impala has ever produced. While Parker has always cited pop music as an influence, his first two albums could only be said to contain pop elements. Parker allowed those elements to blossom on “Currents” for the simple reason that he wanted to make more heartfelt music. After all, few genres are more adept at describing universal matters of the heart than pop. Parker has admitted that his and other indie musicians’ dim view of pop music kept him from more extensively incorporating it into Tame Impala’s earlier music, but he also revealed that writing “good” pop music proved far more difficult than he had ever imagined.
I wouldn’t exactly call myself a pop fan. Due to a combination of genuine dislike for the music and a snobbish concern for my reputation, I avoid listening to radio stations and Spotify playlists that specialize in pop. However, this could just be because modern examples of pop music often fall short of my expectations.
So many ostensibly “good” pop songs are cheapened for me by the realization that a team of people wrote, produced and performed them. When I hear a Top 40 artist melancholically crooning about breakups and unrequited love, I can’t help but remember they’re often singing the words another person wrote to a tune that yet another person composed and still other people played the instruments for. In the case of Tame Impala and “Currents”, all of those aforementioned roles are filled by Parker. This album’s songs feel so much more personal while still addressing those typical pop themes.
“Currents” is an album filled with high points. Picking my favorite song would be impossible. Every track has at least one or two magic moments, from the eerily muted chorus and skipping record effect on album opener “Let it Happen”, all the way to the swaggering central riff and the pulsating rhythm section of “New Person, Same Old Mistakes”. The album may be populated with interludes and short tracks bookending the longer singles, but these are far from filler. Instead, they give “Currents” a sense of natural ebb and flow and make listening to it feel like a journey.
As I mentioned earlier, I first heard “Currents” during a transitional period in my life, and while times have definitely changed – these days I’m more worried about finding a job post-graduation than finding my classes on campus – the album still resonates with me. So many relatable themes are covered in its songs: heartbreak, forgiveness, longing, and fear of the future. As I grow older and inevitably experience feelings of love, heartbreak, excitement and fear in the years to come, I hope I can continue to find comfort in the music of “Currents.” And deep down, I know that I will, since an album about personal growth should be just as relevant at age seventy as it was at age seventeen.
As Parker so astutely notes on “Yes I’m Changing”, “They say people never change / But that’s bulls—, they do”. I intend to keep changing and growing, and I know I will always have “Currents” to help me along the way.
Eric Mulligan can be reached at [email protected].