Tame Impala could hardly have picked a more suiting name for their new single. After all, it’s been a while.
With “Patience”, the Aussie psych-rockers take on a different soundscape, exploring a new melodic hue. Kevin Parker and co. are up for a pretty spectacular year, having bagged a headline slot at the infamous Coachella. However, the prospect of new music from the Perth group surpasses the excitement of any high profile live show. It’s been four years since Tame Impala released Currents, a record that finally earned them the monstrous recognition they deserved all along. Yet just as our patient wait for more music started to wear thin, the band has pulled through with a hot new crowd pleaser.
“Patience” draws vintage influence and contemporary production into a sharp mix of delicious disco solitude. The tangible piano riff that runs through the tune is a driving force, spinning the tune into dream-like proportions.
Holding the quality stamp of true Kevin Parker craftsmanship, “Patience” is exactly the kind of unexpected come back we could expect from the band.
After the hard-hitting beats that Currents had to offer, Tame Impala has now scaled back to the more timeless roots of good piano chords. With swirls of technicolour production tying it together the track could still hold a headliner stage whilst dually keep a crowd at a dingy jazz bar entertained.
The duality of the piece speaks much of Parker’s production, but lyrically, “Patience” is no virtue. Facing up to his ever so president existential crisis, Kevin Parker still dwells on bombastic and potentially mind shattering matters of time and space, even if it is in the microcosmos of interpersonal relationships. Reflecting the passage of time surely takes a lot of patience, so while we wait to figure it all out, Tame Impala has our eardrums safely covered.
Vocals dripping with reverb may shield the singer from getting too confrontational, however, Parker is still posing way bolder moves than on Tame Impala’s early work. Growing into his own, the frontman seems more comfortable and the music reflects this.
Though this may feel like Tame Impala in a glossy new packing, they’re still holding on to the hazy solitude we’ve come to know and love.
