‘The Slow Rush’ Review

On February 14, 2021, Kevin Parker, the musical genius behind the Tame Impala Project, announced the group’s fourth studio project, The Slow Rush (ironically named for going a clinically long period of time without releasing any new material). The previous album, Currents, released in 2015, charted first in Australia, fourth in the US, and third in the UK.

The music within this piece of work was very reminiscent of fluttering ’80s synthesizer tones heard across all kinds of pop hits from that time. While brilliant synth tones still exist on The Slow Rush, it was the drumming and clever bass lines that really took the driver’s seat on this record. New-sounding Latin-style beats consisting of bongos and outlying drum machine patterns, which were lacking in previous Tame Impala albums, seem to have found a sitting place on this album. While the physical music ran more of a pop basis on chord progressions and lead melodies, the Kevin Parker remains with heavy layering and special arrangements, which worked together to create a 3D field of music. With notable singles like “Lost In Yesterday,” which won APRA song of the year and was nominated for a Grammy, and the TikTok famous “Borderline,” the album was a solid successor for the tough to follow, Grammy-award-winning alternative album of the year Currents. 

While The Slow Rush Tour was canceled due to the Coronavirus in 2020, the group began touring Rushium this past summer and will continue up until mid-November. Known to be one of the greatest live groups to see ever because of the once in a lifetime production, Kevin Parker has stated that he will be going all out for this tour, and he has, hitting major venues such as “The Gorge” in Washington, the famous “Hollywood Bowl”, and an abundance of festivals. Packing one of the greatest light shows ever seen, Kevin Parker has created a fantastic project for The Slow Rush album and Rushium tour.