Tame Impala was once a record collector’s idea of a rock band. Then it was a rock band that was a guy and this guy was also a record collector. 2015 Currents took this proposition as far as possible, and when Kevin Parker released “End of Summer” as the first single from his fifth studio album, Mortuarysomething else became evident: every crate digger eventually finds his or her way to the dance floor.
Mortuary is Parker’s electronic and dance album, but it’s also her father’s new album, since his first daughter was born the year after pre-pandemic. THE Slow rush. As such, he throws a few paternal winks at family guy and Pablo Escobar, while treading emotional territory familiar from Tame Impala: jealousy, paralysis, and social anxiety. Parker digs into his psyche, not necessarily through lyrics, but by paying homage to music he ostensibly loves, like Jeff Mills’ “The Bells” (“Not My World”), the Beatles (“See You on Monday”) and, apparently, DJ Khaled and Rihanna’s “Wild Thoughts” (“Obsolete”). Here are five takeaways from the album.
An intimate and unvarnished opening
Mortuary opens with a demo track of Parker singing over a piano house riff. It is a significant gesture: removing the shiny varnish from Currents And The slow rushevoking the image of Parker alone in a room, surrounded by the best high-end recording equipment. This piano, blurred with the sound of the piece, reappears as a motif throughout the album. Later, on the skeevy synth-funk single “Loser,” a muttered “fuck” finds its way into the final mix, like the fossil record of an earlier, improvised version. For an artist obsessed with craftsmanship, Parker became more comfortable letting the seams show.
