Currents
| Tame Impala
Currents
Currents is the third studio album by Australian artist Tame Impala. It was released on 17 July 2015 by Modular Recordings and Universal Music Australia, Interscope Records in the United States, and Fiction Records and Caroline International in other international regions. Like the group's previous two albums, Currents was written, recorded, performed, and produced by primary member Kevin Parker. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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The Irish Times
A brilliant record.
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ListenSD
Focus on every glorious nugget of hyperactive song craft, or just lie back and let these songs transport you. Just realize the talents who can give you that choice are few and far between.
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Smash Cut Reviews
Kevin Parker and Tame Impala have done it again with a sound just different enough to suck you in and enough of the same to keep fans of the older material.
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GRON
Currents is a blissful venture that has proved Kevin Parker’s talents of production (along with pretty much everything else), and we sure are glad that he let this happen.
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Totally Dublin
A sonic playground shrouded in dark clouds.
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Entertainment Weekly
The crimson-and-clover sprawl of the band’s first two albums is still intact, but there’s a new kind of richness to frontman Kevin Parker’s lonely-astronaut experiments. A minus.
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The Music Ninja
Parker’s latest album is certainly set to change the music landscape once again.
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Tenement TV
KEVIN Parker has stood out as one of the most engaging figures in modern music for a number of years now. 9.5/10.
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Titan Times
On a scale of one to ten I’d say that this album would probably deserve a 6.5/10.
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Spectrum Culture
Hearing a band push itself beyond a sort of sonic stasis will nearly always be far more interesting than hearing retreads of past glories. 4.25/5.
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Mind Equals Blown
It’s similar enough that existing fans know what to expect, but diverse enough that there is plenty to discover and enjoy.
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Chicago Tribune
Tame Impala reinvents itself as pop masters on the marvelous 'Currents'.
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The Current
Kevin Parker shows the agility of the band's namesake "impala" all over Currents — lucky for us, this Tame Impala isn't also endangered.
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WRMC FM
Tame Impala’s sound is always unique, and the ability to change styles while remaining so powerful and compelling is what makes them exceptional.
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Modern Vinyl
Next “transformation” for Kevin Parker is crisply paced, phenomenal break-up album.
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Surviving the Golden Age
His tendency to wander and try new things is what makes him great—but unfortunately it’s also what keeps this particular album from reach greatness. 7.6/10.
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Spectrum Pulse
For me, it's 6/10 and only recommended if you're more of a fan. For me, though, the currents remain the same: underwhelming.
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Music Existence
Tame Impala has no shortage of awards as it is, and this will only make them even more renowned. The only bad news is that the best album of the year is here, so I don’t expect a better album to come out for the rest of the year.
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WVUA 90.7fm
Currents is ambitious, and sometimes ambitious releases can fall flat, but it does not.
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Cherwell
Currents may not be a shocking or an extraordinary album, but it’s a highly enjoyable one, and that’s more than enough.
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Music and Riots
Currents is a step in a new direction and it completely succeeds. 9/10.
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Brum Notes Magazine
To some, it may be too far off what they’re used to, but in reality it is the next logical step. It’s a reflection of where Tame Impala are currently at, and that’s turned out to be somewhere great.
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Eric Mack Attacks
The songs — particularly the ones I mentioned above — are tightly constructed, but the synth-heavy production gives the impression of endless textural variation, ensuring it never gets old to pass through them again and again.
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State Press
Flow Down the Stream of 80's Psychedelia with Tame Impala's 'Currents'.
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No Ripcord
Parker is a once-in-a-generation talent, and this album is conclusive evidence of it. 9/10.
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NOW Toronto
Perfect. 5/5.
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Scoop
Personally, the stakes were high for me with Currents. Tame Impala became my favourite band shortly after Innerspeaker and I sincerely hoped I would like this album. I love it.
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The Alternative
Kevin Parker is a goddamn rockstar. 9/10.
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The Rambler
Although the lyrics may seem depressing to read, they are presented in such a way that they still put you in a good mood.
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Financial Times
After two albums of acclaimed psych-rock, the band moves towards dance music and the smoother end of disco and R&B.
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The Interns
It sounds like they’re only moving forward and that’s exciting when a songwriter with as many ideas as Parker is in the driver’s seat.
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Nouse
As loathe as I am to give an album five stars, Currents certainly deserves it.
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Murfie Blog
Parker embraces change so successfully, we might assume he isn’t finished—Currents may be a mere pit stop on the way to Tame Impala‘s yet-to-come masterpiece, but it’s a trip well worth enjoying on its own. 4/5.
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Myriad Muzik
Currents’ plays less like individual currents and more like one beautiful cohesive body of water. 7.8/10.
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Under the Radar Mag
Accept this new gift, and maybe even trade in the couch-lock for some dancing.
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The Trend Online
Though I have a problem with a few things on this album, Currents is still a record I find myself listening to all the time.
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Headstuff
For a man who once sang that solitude is bliss, it’s hard to think of a better role.
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Kid with A Vinyl
It’s clear that Tame Impala has found the path towards evolution, and from here, it seems like Kevin Parker can only go forwards. 9.7/10.
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Uncut
Currents may be equally exhilarating to any listener willing to adjust to Tame Impala’s new paradigm, which – what with new paradigms being as ephemeral as everything else in this life – you may be wise to savour here in the present.
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The Early Registration
Kevin Parker and his band hit the pavement of reality and define just what it means to be human. 9.6/10.
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The Know
Tame Impala could have turned out another “Lonerism” or two and kept an adoring fan base, but thank god Parker didn’t want to do that. This is far more interesting.
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The Edge
Overall a very cool album, starts off strong but by the second half the vocals begin to drone and the songs become uninspired. The tracks work separately but not as an album. 4/5.
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KUMD
If this album details the future of their work, we can expect terrific things to come.
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Pop Matters
Australia's most promising young rock band masterfully blend psychedelia with dance music on their bold and epic third album.
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Indie Central Music
There’s a new world to play in on Currents, a fantastical vision that cranks up the saturation and weakens the laws of physics.
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Music OMH
For those that are willing to kiss goodbye to the guitars and join Parker on his latest detour, you’re likely to get swept away by the dreaminess of Currents.
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alenabouranova
Currents now sits next to Innerspeaker and Lonerism at the top of my playlist.
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MMJ
Currents is a ridiculously disappointing record that lacks artistic aspiration and individual boldness embedded within performances. 4/10.
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The Needle Drop
Tame Impala returns with a new sound on a new record.
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Layers & Sounds
Currents is an inspiring example to create and be yourself despite the naysayers and critics. Keep it real and ride the wave. "Arise and walk, come through / A world beyond that door is calling for you / It's calling out for you."
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The 405
It stands clear and apart from the past of Tame Impala, choosing to take a knife and separate in favour of moving forward.
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A.V. Club Music
Currents won’t quite get to join the club of all-time great third albums, but it’s still an impressive effort.
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What's Good
If Lonerism was one of 2012’s very best albums, Currents will very much be one of 2015’s.
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Vulture Hound
This record could be that very jump for Tame Impala, or at least definitely a step in that same direction.
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Backseat Mafia
Currents does something quite fantastical in that it takes the uncool and makes it cool again. 9.8/10.
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SF Weekly
Tame Impala Proves Why It’s One of The Best Rock Bands Alive.
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Soze Media
Currents is pretty damn awesome.
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The DePaulia
“Currents” doesn’t just outstandingly demonstrate an evolution. It’s what Parker has always been meant to be.
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The West Review
Parker is still a magician at creating unique interesting riffs that breeze and float throughout his cosmic soundscapes, but they are now coloured in with some gorgeous synth tracks. 5/5.
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The Worcester Spy
If I had to rate this album on a scale of one to ten, I would give it a nine.
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SU Independent
Parker doesn’t show a lot of focus, dedication, or artistic vision so much as he just kinda does this thing. And hey, Hershey’s does that, and McDonald’s does that, and Coca-Cola does that: devise a product, and crank it out. And it works generally. 3.5/5.
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Buffablog
It’s no third masterpiece by Parker. However even if it’s pop music, it’s Kevin Parker’s pop music, and you don’t see too many artists (even indie) that continue to grow as musicians and producers as he has continued to do.
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Slackerlee + Austin
The way Tame Impala is going, there is no reason they shouldn’t be the defining sound of the millennial generation.
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Pretty Much Amazing
If we have seen the last of those stun gun guitars, Currents tries to make the case that Parker’s blossoming sonic adventurousness is a worthwhile tradeoff.
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Daily Review
Whether it tops the giddy success of their previous efforts is moot but with Currents Tame Impala has well and truly established itself as one of contemporary music’s most innovative, interesting and best acts.
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Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs
Striking and captivating. 8.5/10.
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What the Kids Want
Live[s] up to the high standard that Parker has set for himself, and were certainly worth the wait.
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Daily Bruin
Kevin Parker is a mastermind. 4/5.
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A Velvet Postgrad
Currents remains a tremendous achievement in which Parker flourishes as producer, musician, and songwriter.
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Audio Sprawl
Currents is a consistently enjoyable and revolutionary reaffirmation of Kevin Parker’s musical and lyrical ingenuity. 9.1/10.
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The Way That He Sings
Kevin Parker marries psychedelic dancefloor beats with chillwave grooves to near perfection on third LP. 9/10.
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iHeart Comix
I’m going to slap a solid 4 out of 5 mushrooms on this beast of a record. It is always refreshing when a good band explores new sounds while retaining their integrity and passion. Definitely a favorite of the year so far. 4/5.
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Thirty Summers
Kevin Parker is a bright shining light in the music world today, leading from the front and taking his audiences, if they want to go, along for an exhilarating ride.
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The Atlantic
The new album Currents raids psychedelic music history to make a strangely powerful philosophical point.
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The Spinnaker
Tame Impala proves that nostalgia is killing indie.
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Antidote Magazine
The album may have its speed bumps but it has enough appeal to be blasted throughout the rest of the summer.
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Dummy Mag
The album's singularity causes 'Currents' to be Parker's most positive and accomplished record yet. 8/10.
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Radio 1190
Worth the listen.
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All Music
Parker's prowess as a producer and musician makes most of Currents palatable, if not extremely exciting. 3/5.
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Cultured Vultures
Currents is arguably Arctic Monkeys’ AM’s disco-obsessed cousin, lecherous rhythms and warm melancholy being central to both.
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Tone Deaf
We’ve Officially Reached Peak Tame Impala.
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The Girls at the Rock Show
I give this album an 8/10, my only complaint being the mixing. While I disagree with many who say that this is the best album of the year to date, it’ll be in my playlist for lazy, effortless Sunday afternoons.
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Redbrick
Currents is a delight to listen to from start to finish.
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Vulture
On Their Third Album, Tame Impala Achieve Psych-Rock Nirvana.
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The Quietus
Directly from the heart.
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Skiddle
It's by far their most accessible album to date, drawn from the grasp of stoners hot boxing their bedrooms to a wider audience, and the formula is ultimately mesmerising.
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ACLD
The level of technical prowess behind the boards and sheer songcraft and musicianship is an impressive feat for one person.
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Janky Smooth
In no way does Currents hit the kind of nerve that Kid A did in it’s metamorphosis of sound and if this was Tame Impala’s first album, I wouldn’t even give it a second look- now I’m sad.
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Play Too Much
I applaud Kevin Parker for being so revealing in Currents.
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Under the Radar
Parker successfully blended the psychedelic sounds of the 60s and 70s with modern production and electronic influences to create a unique and captivating sound.
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Methods Unsound
Currents is great.
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Thought Pollution
As a bland mashup experiment of various pop genres, “Currents” didn’t turn out as bad as it could have, considering its ambition. 7.9/10.
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Stereo Champions
Tame Impala returns after three years with their best album yet.
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Slant Magazine
Although Currents is, in many ways, a showcase of difference, Tame Impala also toys with repetition as a unifying theme. 4/5.
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Best New Bands
He reinvented his sound and brought us into the more tangible parts of his psyche this time around, no matter how painful it may have seemed for him to do so.
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Hit the Floor
Currents is an album which is totally without comparison. It stands totally on its own, taking up every fibre of your being and every one of your senses for every second of its running time.
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Clash Music
A nigh on perfect release...
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The Wild Magazine
Currents displays Parker’s deft, near-perfect music-making skills and once again has his listeners pondering his previous claim that solitude is bliss.
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Northern Transmissions
The constant cloudy-headed experimentation gets a little exhausting over the course of the album’s 13-track, 52-minute runtime, but the lyrics provide the lucid emotional core that keeps these spacey songs grounded.
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Student Edge News
Currents one of the most satisfying narrative journeys of the year, let alone aural ones. 4.5/5.
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