Tame Impala - "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards"
Their music is at once fresh and familiar. Calling to mind Fleetwood Mac, Van Morrison, and other classic rock bands, they've carved out a niche for themselves and created a loyal following of fans. It's the kind of music that makes you want to dance in the sunshine and sleep under the stars.
They are a psychedelic rock band conceived by Australian multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker. The band began as a home-recording project for Parker, who writes, records, performs, and produces the music.
As a touring act, Parker (guitar, vocals) plays alongside Dominic Simper (guitar, synthesiser) and some members of Australian psychedelic rock band Pond – Jay Watson (synthesiser, vocals, guitar), Cam Avery (bass guitar, vocals), and Julien Barbagallo (drums, vocals). Previously signed to Modular Recordings, Tame Impala is now signed to Interscope Records in the US, and Fiction Records in the UK.
After a series of singles and EPs, in 2010, the band released their debut studio album, Innerspeaker, which was certified gold in Australia and well received by critics. Their 2012 follow-up, Lonerism, was also acclaimed, reaching platinum status in Australia and receiving a Grammy Award nomination for Best Alternative Music Album. The band's third album, Currents, was released in July 2015, and like its predecessor, it won ARIA Awards for Best Rock Album and Album of the Year. Parker won the APRA Award for Song of the Year 2016 for Currents' first track, "Let It Happen".
Parker's music is heavily influenced by late 1960s and early 1970s psychedelic rock, which is achieved through various production methods. Some favoured and often-used effects by Parker include phasing, delay, reverb and fuzz.
Parker's decision to make the music for Tame Impala in the studio by himself is a result of Parker liking "the kind of music that is the result of one person constructing an awesome symphony of sound. You can layer your own voice 700 times for half a second if you want, and I just love that kind of music". However, Parker has to translate his music to a live setting with the band, and the band doesn't play the songs until they have been recorded. "The only jamming that’s done as a band is done a long time after the song is recorded for the sake of the live environment. It’s good for us, because we can take a song that’s been recorded and do what we want to it: slow it down, speed it up, make it 10 seconds or 10 minutes long. It gives us a lot of freedom."
So today, with a diamond sky in my eyes, I choose Tame Impala's "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" as my, only in your dreams, follow me down the rabbit hole, every drop you spill, song for a, well here we go, the only way out is through, one more leap into the unknown, Friday.