Album Review: The Slow Rush
What does it mean to feel on top of the world? To have everything in the palm of your hand, at finger-tips reach?
Tame Impala’s fourth studio album The Slow Rush tells us in twelve tracks.
The Slow Rush reminds me of what it feels like to think you’re invincible. It’s a strange limbo, the fine line between sentimental and nostalgic that reminds me of what once was and what potentially will be.
Is there danger in that? In the hustle-and-bustle of city life, where interactions are fleeting and new faces appear at every turn, how do we orient ourselves? What do you do when you feel like you have all the time in the world? The best thing to do is just take it slow, and that’s what this is about.
The album kicks off with one of my personal favorites, One More Year, choppy and fuzzy with a refusal to wean. The house influence is high and alluring, and it doesn’t let up. Parker’s starting off vibrant, daring us to be bold and reckless. We have a tendency to stay static, but there’s a freedom in the endless possibilities out there.
This hint of danger continues in Instant Destiny, Parker’s ode to the fearlessness that being in love can bring. There’s an antsiness present, a desire to do something crazy simply because you can. It’s in my favorite single Borderline that this recklessness comes to a head: realizing that you’ve gone too far, teetering over the edge so much so that you can’t go back. There’s an underlying melancholy in the danceable beats that’s distinctly Tame Impala.
So, what do we do now?
We begin to lament the things we’ve been trying to ignore: the past. Parker slows it down and wrestles with his former demons on Posthumous Forgiveness, then picks it back up in a groovy, cyclical, 80’s-esque Breathe Deeper. In a bit of an acoustic curve-ball, Tomorrow’s Dust urges us to leave yesterday behind us. The keyboard in On Track starts slow, just nearing melancholic, but begins to build momentum. The lyrics are quite bittersweet: setbacks are inevitable, but taking life day by day is all that matters.
Parker’s comments on the next single, Lost In Yesterday, are short and sweet: Nostalgia is a drug, to which some are addicted. Backed by an infectious, memorable beat, he tells us to come to terms with a past that haunts us by facing it, by leaving it behind completely. Keeping the rhythm up, Is It True is an ode to the uncertainties that come with young love, while the anthem It Might Be Time is an ode to those who feel like they’ve lost their mojo.
Glimmer is a track almost devoid of vocals, instead giving us two minutes of hazy beats. As the shortest track on the album, it feels almost like an interlude due to its length. It’s exactly what was needed before getting into the final track on the album, One More Hour. It’s definitely a fan-favorite, and rightfully so. Clocking in at seven minutes, One More hour is a roller coaster: the minimal keyboard, infectious guitar riffs, and aggressive drums are quite the finale.
Finally, in this last track, Parker is telling us that after thinking back to the past and what has led us here, the time is now. The future is coming, but there’s no need to fear it. Not anymore.
Listen to the album here on Spotify and Apple Music, and watch the music video for Lost In Yesterday below.
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