After five years Tame Impala announced on Instagram that he was finally dropping an album titled Deadbeat. I was so excited to finally listen to new songs that he has been producing for some time. Now, it has been a few days since the album dropped, and there has been some mixed reviews about this album. Some have been saying that this album isn’t one of his best, like Pitchfork giving it a 4.8 out of 10. While others have been saying this album isn’t bad, and that people should give it a chance.
To be completely honest, I became a fan of Tame Impala after hearing his most popular song “The Less I Know the Better” on Tiktok. So you’re definitely thinking, “Why are you even reviewing this if you just started getting into his music?” Well, because I enjoy his music, and I wanted to give my personal thoughts on the album. Now, as someone who just became a fan, I thought this album was good, has some flaws, but overall good. I especially like the opening song “My Old Ways.” I was really blown away when the song started out as a recording from a phone, then transitioned into the actual song. It really set the tone of the album.
Although, my personal favorites from the album are “Dracula,” and “Obsolete,” I liked how “Dracula” gave that Fall/Halloween feeling. If I was being a vampire for Halloween this year, that song would definitely have been used for a Tiktok. With “Obsolete,” I enjoyed the melody of the song; it kind of made me feel like I was gliding through a kaleidoscope, which perfectly describes Impala’s signature style.
While I do have favorites on this album, I will say it does have a lot of flaws. Compared to his other albums Currents and The Slow Rush, this album does have some songs that I lowkey skipped through. Some songs on the album kind of felt the same and didn’t really give me that mesmerizing soundscape that I was kind of hoping for in this project. Also, while the lyrics seem very heartfelt, it kind of felt weird to hear “Tell me, what do I say to turn this around? / I’m an afterthought to you” in “Afterthought” with an upbeat background. It made me think, should I be feeling upset because of the lyrics, or should I be on the dance floor with this song? It made me feel disconnected to what the album should be expressing: a mesmerizing soundscape, like an escapism from reality, but that song didn’t express that.
Overall, while this album does have its flaws, I do think this album isn’t as bad as people are making it out to be. Is it Tame Impala’s best album? No. Will I still be listening to it and enjoying the songs I like? Definitely. Even though I did expect more from his five year hiatus, overall, Tame Impala’s newest album is far from a deadbeat.