Artist: Tame Impala
Album: Currents
Tame Impala’s third studio album, Currents, marks a transition in Kevin Parker’s taste and presence. Since the band’s last album, Lonerism, Parker split ways with girlfriend, Melody Prochet, and Currents’ ability to allude to a drawn-out and isolating self-examination points critics to wonder whether the album is a blatant response to heartbreak, though Parker’s lyrics are open to endless interpretation. The album’s seven-minute intro, “Let It Happen” takes its listener on a ride of inner emotional turmoil combining lyrics like “All this running around/I can’t fight it much longer/Something’s trying to get out/And it’s never been closer” and “Let it happen/Let it happen,” with emotionally charged instrumentation. The album is a heavy wash of psychedelic rock, pairing a literal pull of synthesized currents and yearning lyrics to create one of the greatest albums of 2015.