It is easy to compare Australian outfit Tame Impala to The Beatles. We’ve done it here on Live in Limbo before, for crying out loud. Even the furthest they’ve been outside of their comfort zone, the bombastic Elephant, feels like it is a fan, itself, of the blues rock material on Let It Be. With two albums and critical domination, Tame Impala’s third album has been speculated, and wished for for quite a while now. When will we hear new music from these indie rock favorites?
We got quite the surprise, and we hopefully got confirmation that a new album will surely follow. We were delivered the near-8 minute psychedelic disco Let It Happen, and the closest to The Beatles that this song is is with the first two words of its name; Instead of leaving things alone, Tame Impala want to see where this goes. This is different for Tame Impala, as it leaves its home of the past number of years in a similar way that Elephant does. Where Elephant tried to be a different approach for Tame Impala’s catalogue, Let It Happen is still every trick of the trade that Tame Impala is good at but with a different perspective.
We still get the tunneled soundscapes, where we are led forwards like a marching group of rats. We just have the distance to go even further this time around. With its length and its musical scope, we have much ground to cover here! The production is as fluid as soft draping as it casts its length with seamless continuity. There are parts of repetition that call back the new wave and disco days of yesteryear, and these “click track” moments fit well with the dream pop elements as the lines between digital and analog are stretched further than the ear can hear. There are inclusions of saxophones and shoegaze backing vocals that certainly create more density within this retro fog. Like some of the best dream pop songs, you get lost within the lengths of audible mist and not bored.
This is a terrific song by Tame Impala, and easily a highlight of their career. With this release, Kendrick Lamar’s The Blacker The Berry and Chromatic’s I Can Never Be Myself When You’re Around, we have had a terrific start to 2015, with songs that have pushed their respective artist’s capabilities. Lamar’s voice of the people is louder than ever, Chromatic’s understanding of the human pathos is more realized and Tame Impala’s discovery of what they were always capable of is finally here. With three promising albums on their way (To Pimp a Butterfly for Lamar and Dear Tommy for Chromatics), and a fourth album that’s leaked and has blown the masses away (Sufjan Steven’s Carrie and Lowell, which will be reviewed here) Tame Impala’s, hopefully, upcoming album will surely be one to look forward to if the rest of it is as mystifying as this song is. Either way, you’d better be damn well excited, as the music of 2015 is finally underway, and it’s beautiful.
