Tame Impala

From their beginnings as psychedelic adventurers, the Australian outfit Tame Impala spent ten years overturning conventions and reshaping their music through unexpected shifts that captivated listeners while motivating artists ranging from Unknown Mortal Orchestra to Lady Gaga. Under the guidance of Kevin Parker, the group issued its 2010 debut Innerspeaker, a massive guitar-rock statement drenched in hallucinatory hues. The 2012 successor Lonerism reduced the emphasis on guitars to pursue broader sonic horizons, after which Parker veered toward brighter pop territory that absorbed hip-hop textures on 2015’s Currents and disco flourishes on 2020’s The Slow Rush, simultaneously sharpening the melodic hooks. This formula yielded widespread appeal, so that by the close of the decade Parker was teaming with global heavyweights such as Kanye and Travis Scott while Tame Impala filled stadiums and moved substantial volumes of records. Entering the following decade, Parker joined forces with another icon for the 2022 single “Turn Up the Sunshine,” recorded alongside Motown legend Diana Ross.

Raised in a home filled with music, Parker devoted himself to guitar and drums from childhood partly as an outlet from domestic stresses. Schoolmate Dominic Simper, who shared his fascination with late-’60s psychedelia, joined him in forming the Dee Dee Dums in 2005 alongside drummer Luke Epstein. The group became regulars in Perth’s underground circuit until Epstein departed in 2007 to join a different act. Jay Watson stepped in, prompting a name change to Tame Impala. Although the trio operated as a live unit, Parker handled nearly all studio work alone, shaping dreamy, disorienting psychedelic pop inside his bedroom. After uploading tracks to MySpace, the material quickly gained traction. An EP titled Tame Impala appeared on the small Hole in the Sky imprint in 2008, after which the band signed with Modular Recordings and issued a second self-titled EP before year’s end.

That release reached number ten on the ARIA charts and number one on the independent charts. Despite Parker performing every instrument in the studio, the live incarnation of Tame Impala operated as a conventional band, albeit one whose earliest shows were notably under-rehearsed and shoeless. At one chaotic performance for a Vice Magazine event in Melbourne, the label manager for indie electro-pop act MGMT was sufficiently impressed to book them as support on an Australian tour. That same year the group also opened for the Black Keys and You Am I across national runs.

In 2010 Tame Impala unveiled its first full-length album, the Dave Fridmann-mixed Innerspeaker. Captured largely inside a secluded beach house several hours from Perth, the record featured Parker on almost every part, though Watson and Simper contributed sparingly. The album achieved both critical and commercial acclaim, earning fans worldwide, multiple ARIA nominations including Album of the Year, and the J Award for Album of the Year. Shortly after its release Parker retreated to his Perth home studio to develop fresh material, which he tracked intermittently while the band toured. During this period he lost half the recordings when an iPod slipped from his bag, relocated briefly to Paris to produce Melody’s Echo Chamber’s self-titled album, and ultimately completed the project after a year of mixing with Dave Fridmann.

Issued in 2012, Lonerism emerged as a less guitar-centric and more eccentric statement than its predecessor, yet it achieved even greater impact. Tame Impala again claimed the J Award for Album of the Year, topped numerous year-end lists including NME’s, and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Album. The ensuing recognition positioned Parker as a sought-after collaborator; Mark Ronson proved the most prominent contact, enlisting him on several tracks for the album Uptown Special. Concurrently Parker and associates launched the space-disco project AAA Aardvark Getdown Services, both of which informed the direction of the next Tame Impala release, 2015’s Currents, whose sound broadened to encompass brisk dance-inflected cuts and sleek R&B elements. The album dominated multiple categories at the 2015 ARIA Awards, including Best Album, and received another Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Album in 2016.

Parker remained active throughout the ensuing years through collaborations with Koi Child, Lady Gaga, Yasiin Bey, ZHU, SZA, and Mick Jagger. On the Tame Impala side, an expanded edition of Currents—featuring three previously unreleased songs plus remixes by Pond and Soulwax—surfaced in 2017. Parker’s profile as an in-demand guest continued climbing during the band’s hiatus; in 2018 he appeared on Travis Scott’s Astroworld, co-wrote a track for Kanye’s Ye, and reunited with Ronson for 2019’s Late Night Feelings.

That year Parker reactivated the live configuration of Tame Impala, still anchored by Simper and Watson, securing prominent festival headlining slots at Coachella and Primavera Sound. Ahead of this return he had been steadily shaping the band’s fourth album, incorporating disco elements and more introspective lyricism. Following an extended rollout that included a debut of new material on Saturday Night Live in May 2019 and a gradual release of singles as Parker refined the tracks, The Slow Rush arrived in early 2020 just before a global tour. The record achieved both commercial and critical success, topping the ARIA chart and securing five additional ARIA Awards while earning two Grammy nominations. A companion set, The Slow Rush B-Sides & Remixes, followed in 2022 and featured fresh cuts such as “No Choice” alongside remixes by Lil Yachty and Four Tet. Parker’s affinity for disco resurfaced on “Turn Up the Sunshine,” a joint single with Diana Ross created for the Minions: The Rise of Gru soundtrack. After contributing to the Gorillaz song “New Gold,” he opened 2023 with another soundtrack piece, “Wings of Time,” for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.