Tame Impala
Patience
Island Records Australia/UMA
There’s still no official word on a new Tame Impala record, and Kevin Parker may be feeling a little a guilty about it as he ponders “Has it really been that long?” on the opening line to new single Patience.
It’s been nearly four years since the world-beating Currents was released so don’t be surprised if an as yet untitled fourth Tame Impala record isn’t far off. In the meantime, Patience is an interesting proposition. Moving further towards the dancefloor, Parker trades 70s psych for another genre from the same era, with disco pianos aplenty that wouldn’t be out of place in an ABBA tune, or even an acid house track.
Set to a coming of age tale revolving around the hooks “I’m just growing up in stages” and “Time waits for no one,” it all hints at a gentle reintroduction to the band rather than another box ticked on the path to world domination, but when the arpeggiators kick in and wistfully carry Patience off to some dreamy otherworld, it’s a reminder that this could only really be a Tame Impala song, and of how unique Parker’s niche in popular music has become.
As such, it simultaneously comes across as both an evolution and a calming statement directed at fans: have patience, just let it happen, and it will… eventually.
HARVEY RAE
