By: Kevin Sigrist, Editor-in-Chief

When one thinks of the greats of the music world, it is easy to look to the past and pull artists who not only achieved high renown during the peak of their careers, but have stood the test of time and remain in old and young fans’ rotations alike. These artists have proven that their work is not bound by time, but that the art they made is applicable and relatable to many different kinds of people, demonstrating an elevated level of quality and universal appreciation. However, when examining the modern music landscape of the last decade or so, it can be difficult to pull out artists that can truly be considered a modern great, or at least the creator of a modern classic. There are some that come to mind. Most recently, 2024’s Brat by Charli xcx certainly is approaching the status of a modern classic. Frank Ocean’s 2016 release of Blonde certainly has well and away achieved this status, with many different reputable music publications calling it one of the greatest albums of all time. There is another album from around the same time that many also consider a modern classic: Tame Impala’s 2015 album Currents. Tame Impala, whose real name is Kevin Parker, released the album to near immediate acclaim, which only grew into the near perfect reputation it holds by many today. While Parker had been releasing music prior to this, with two studio albums having already been released, the success and popularity of Currents allowed him to elevate his role in the music world, transforming him into one of the biggest and most influential names in the entire industry. This is evident in his many collaborations with rappers and singers, such as Travis Scott’s ASTROWORLD track “SKELETONS”, and his role as a producer in Dua Lipa’s 2024 album Radical Optimism. While his 2020 release of his next studio album, The Slow Rush, was met with less outstanding praise than the last, Parker has not slipped away from the relevancy and image he has built through the reputation of his discography, despite the over five-year gap in album releases.

So now, in 2025, Parker began the rollout for his next studio album, Deadbeat, by releasing his first single on July 25. “End of Summer” was met with mixed reactions from many, with its heavy dominance of a loud kick drum and Parker’s vocals being noted as rather one-dimensional compared to the complexity of his previous works. The tracks’ use of these loud and in-your-face drums paired with the use of a classic house-style buildup, pointed fans in the direction that this album would be a house album. Assuming “End of Summer” was to be on the album, it felt like a poor choice as the leading single. The song was somewhat repetitive, but also stretched out to just over seven minutes long. If the rest of the album was to follow suit, staying awake to actually listen to it would be the real challenge.

Things only became more confusing with the release of the second single, “Loser”, which diverted away from a strong prevalence of kick drums, but only upped the prevalence of Parker’s vocals. The song was far more digestible and conventional, following a far more familiar structure and clocking in at three minutes and forty-three seconds, but it relied incredibly heavily on a rather annoying bassline that plays almost the entire song and saw Parker’s vocals reaching such a high pitch that they come off as rather whiny. All this to say, fans’ concerns were not relieved through this track.

It was after the release of “Loser” that Parker announced Deadbeat’s release on Oct. 17, with the third single, “Dracula,” coming out a few weeks later. The track, while clearly Tame Impala’s attempt at his own “Thriller”, was the most fleshed out and familiar of the three so far, offering a far more well mixed and layered song that had very classic sounding vocals and progression. This was the last single Parker would release as a part of the rollout, and fans were incredibly excited to hear this new project.

It is at this point that I find it important to interject with my personal experience with the album. As an intense Tame Impala fan who also happens to be quite busy, it took me some time to listen to the album, but not before I was very easily able to see the response from the public. Between friends of mine, the internet, and reviewers whom I trusted, Deadbeat was shaping up to be a nothingburger.

Parker himself was quick to respond on social media, posting on Instagram with the caption, “Just remember guys when it comes to music everyone’s allowed to think whatever they want to think,” and sharing a screenshot of an early review of Currents from 2015 that was largely negative, implying it may take time for listeners to begin to truly appreciate the music.

Whether Deadbeat will follow a similar trajectory to Currents is entirely up for debate, but it is definitely something to consider that reputation can taint opinions of anything. Had Parker not released four albums that are all considered amazing in their own right, would his latest project be examined under such scrutiny as it is now? Having seen the response of the public and keeping in mind how Parker’s reputation can influence opinions, I sat down to listen to it with an open mind.

Deadbeat has a runtime of 55 minutes and has 12 tracks, containing all three of the rollout’s singles. The project aims at capturing a more house focused feel through the use of pounding kick drums, electric synths, and repetitive grooves that often echo throughout songs’ entire runtimes.

While the album certainly has many enjoyable moments and well-rounded songs, I unfortunately and regrettably found many of the public sentiments to be true with this LP. 

To focus on the positive aspects first, I found very few moments of the album to truly sound outright bad. All songs have at least something going for them, whether it be a groove that is danceable, meaningful lyrics, or unique instrumentation.

Within the first two tracks, “No Reply” demonstrates some truly beautiful piano and vocals at the end of the song that are new and unique compared to Tame Impala’s usual sound. This sound is revisited again later in the album on “Piece of Heaven.” “Dracula” remains a high point on the album for everything stated previously. “Not My World” showcases a far more unique build up than most other instances on the album and actually capitalizes on its buildup successfully. Its unique instrumentation reminds me of both Aphex Twin and something from Minecraft – Volume Alpha/Beta by C418. The highlight of the album for me was “Afterthought,” which, after a long slew of songs that embody the album’s biggest issues, comes through with layered instrumentation, vocals that work well with said instrumentals, a well mixed rhythm section and an appealing hook.

The issue with this project is that these high points are surrounded by an overwhelming amount of simply mediocre, boring content. So many of these songs take a half-baked groove and stretch it out into a song that is both repetitive and ridiculously long. Let’s look at some specific examples.

The opening track, “My Old Ways,” is not necessarily bad, but simply boring. It runs off of a repeating single measure piano riff, quarter note kick drum that becomes mind-numbingly repetitive over the course of the entirety of the album. I found this song reminiscent of “DELERESTO (ECHOS)” by Travis Scott and Beyoncé, in that the entire song feels like a build up that actually gets entirely powerful towards the end, but it does almost nothing with it. The only difference is that “DELERESTO (ECHOS)” has far more going for it instrumentally and vocally than Parker’s track. The second track, “No Reply,” suffers from this same issue of not capitalizing on the momentum it builds through its growing intensity whatsoever.

“Oblivion” takes a very undercooked bassline and attempts to build an entire song off it, which also feels somewhat one-dimensional. The sound of the track is unique and fun for maybe the first few minutes, but this song is nearly five minutes long. 

“Piece of Heaven” feels as though it is going in a different and more interesting direction, but stunts its capabilities by implementing a sort of boom-clap groove that entirely changes the feeling of the song and, frankly, ruins it for me. 

As I continued to listen through the project, I started to ask myself how the next song would find a way to bore. Most of the time, it was through taking underdeveloped ideas and stretching them out into songs that have no right being as long as they are. I found myself simply hoping a song would not start with an instantly pounding kick drum. I found the brief periods of piano and strings to be incredibly interesting and something that should have been fleshed out into its own song.

“Ethereal Connection” was a song that I had seen people responding positively to online, so I went into it rather excited, but I unfortunately found it to be more of the same, with it stretching an incredibly simple beat and groove into a near eight-minute track. The song does many different things during its run time, but as I listened to it the first time, I thought to myself about how really anyone could have made this. If a friend or someone I knew personally showed it to me, I would have been impressed, but if you told me it was one of the most talented musicians in modern music, someone capable of making Currents, I would have believed this to be a scrapped passion project.

Ultimately, Deadbeat has unique ideas to offer, but it really fails at fleshing these ideas out in interesting ways. It overrelies on overpowered drums, Parker’s vocals often fail to mesh well with his instrumentals, the tracks are repetitive and often create buildups that go absolutely nowhere, the beats or basslines are too often underdeveloped and annoying, and really, the project just feels like it wants to waste your time.

All this being said, let’s revisit the question: Is this album mediocre or mediocre in comparison to his previous work? While I most definitely lean towards the latter, there is validity to both claims. I would find this music incredibly impressive if a peer made it, but I would not add it to my playlist and I would think they have talent but a lot to learn. Tame Impala has proven he is capable of making interesting, exciting and meaningful music all in one project, yet this one fails to meet really any of these boxes individually, let alone at the same time.

As someone who really enjoys Kevin Parker’s music and house music as a genre, I had a lot of hope for this project. Tame Impala, as an artist, is responsible for some of the most important and influential music of recent years, so I expected a lot out of Deadbeat, but I was simply met with very little. His ideas are undercooked, repetitive, and stretched out into a project that ultimately feels bloated and incredibly boring.