Tame Impala
Deadbeat
Release Date: Oct 17, 2025
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock
Record label: Columbia Records
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Album Review: Deadbeat by Tame Impala
Satisfactory, Based on 4 Critics
Based on rating 6.5/10
Ever since Innerspeaker, the debut LP of Australian polymath Kevin Parker's musical project Tame Impala in 2010, each record has ranged between 51 and 56 minutes. Such a tight area of sonic road to work with befits Parker's reputation as a perfectionist, an artist who insists on writing, playing, recording, and producing every facet of a Tame Impala album. It means that, no matter where Parker decides to go musically, whether psychedelic rock, electronic rave, or acid R&B, a Tame Impala record brings with it a certain degree of familiarity.
Based on rating 2.5
Kevin Parker’s latest offering is patchy and overly synthetic, failing to hit the heights of his generation defining previous albums Tame Impala is such an interesting case, as there’s nothing really like it in the music industry. It’s both the solo project of Aussie polymath Kevin Parker, and a powerful live act that harnesses the talents of a range of wonderful performers. Fans have never had any issue with the latter, as it’s managed to maintain its reputation as a top-tier live act capable of pushing thick psychedelic grooves out into crowds across the world, turning ever-expanding concert halls into lysergic dancefloors.
Opinion: Average
What's left to say about Tame Impala that hasn't already been said over and over again? Quite a lot, actually. The recipient of critical acclaim for one and a half decades straight, Kevin Parker has grown increasingly comfortable with his reputation as the music industry's golden child… perhaps too comfortable. While the polished sheen of 'Currents' and 'The Slow Rush' multiplied his patronage, it also dampened his creativity.
Opinion: Poor
From the opening lines of 2010's InnerSpeaker, Kevin Parker's debut album as Tame Impala, the Aussie musician has bemoaned his self-inflicted prison of malaise. References to Groundhog Day, circuitous loopty-loops, and sentiments like "only [going] backwards" permeate his work. Despite multiple Grammy nods and high-profile collaborations with the likes of Dua Lipa and Travis Scott, not to mention the adulation of dorm-room stoners everywhere, Tame Impala's fifth album, Deadbeat, finds Parker still selling himself as a something of an underachiever--or, as he puts it, a "loser." This is burnout as branding.
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