STACK #130 Aug 2016

MUSIC

COVER FEATURE

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TAMING PARKER

That's a joke headline – there's no taming Kevin Parker, because the visionary behindTame Impala knows that the best way for him to make music is entirely on his own. By Zoë Radas and Jonathan Alley

aforementioned trip. “I think if you listen you can really hear I’ve thrown loads of ideas at this album,” he explains. “A few things were done on the run, but the majority of it was made hunkered down in Fremantle, by myself, just sifting through loads of ideas I’d gathered over time; loads of riffs, little fragments.” Some of these larger shreds are the interludes which come between tracks: There’s Nangs (which sounds exactly like its title) at 1:47 long, Disciples (a jaunty, retro little romp) at 1.48, and Gossip (spacey leslie synths) at 55 seconds long. “To me, they’re fun, but also important,” Parker says. “I don’t take things… too seriously… but I also like being able to inject little ideas like that; it just breaks things up, just says ‘Here’s a little idea, we might turn it into a song later… or not!’ Musicians all do that in ways; little fragments of things grow and change.” In between these particles are the sweeping, liquid, sometimes lazy disco tracks which are the album’s organs: The string-

he’s an awesome guy – in fact when I saw his TED Talk I sent him a congrats email right away, and I think everyone should see it – but I make music my own way, and I didn’t really listen to any other music at all, making Currents . That’s how I’ve always made music: pretty much all my own trip, if you know what [It's] pretty much all my own trip, if you know what I mean

Y ou’ve probably detected that our fever slithers across the surface of the world this month to accompany the release of third album Currents , you’ll notice that almost every promo shot of ‘Tame Impala’ is just a singular human. That’s because, despite the fact the touring group comprises five dudes, the music of this beloved act is written, recorded and produced only by Kevin Parker. “I tend to make my own music, my own way, and it’s really best I make it on my own,” Parker tells STACK . “It’s just the way I’ve always done it.” Parker isn’t averse to collaboration, and has worked with some incredible musicians: dream pop chanteuse Melody Prochet, Aussie electro duo Canyons, Cam Avery of The Growl and Pond, and most recently Mark Ronson, with whom Parker co-wrote three tracks for Ronson’s acclaimed album Uptown Special . But he’s firm about his isolated writing style. “I love what Mark Ronson does, cover image this month features just one man – in fact, as Tame Impala

I mean.” Currents is Parker’s most creatively enterprising project to date: there are so many petite details which, while at once eclectic, also make so much coherent sense that you’re easily drawn into that

AUGUST 2015 JB Hi-Fi www.jbhifi.com.au

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