Tame Impala’s hotly-anticipated fourth album The Slow Rush arrived today (Feb. 14).
Kevin Parker actually meant to release the record right before headlining Coachella last April, as he recently told Billboard in his cover story interview. However, three weeks before the fest, the Aussie psychedelic rocker changed his mind. “I [had] told myself that all I wanted to do was put out an album, and I didn’t care if it wasn’t as good. I was happy to sacrifice quality for timing,” he said. “[But] I just knew in my heart that it wasn’t ready.”
Well, The Slow Rush may have taken its time (aptly-named, no?) but it was certainly worth the wait.
Even the artwork has a surrealist flair, taking us inside a house whose owners apparently blundered by leaving the windows open during the mother of all sandstorms. (Perhaps it’s the stuff of Parker’s nightmares, or based on the beach-dwelling Aussie’s real-life experience.)
The Slow Rush is the follow to 2015’s Currents, an album which thrust Parker and Co. into the global spotlight. In Australia, the album opened at No. 1 and went on to win a string of ARIA Awards, including album of the year. The set also earned Tame Impala a Brit Award for best international group and peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and No. 3 in the U.K., both career bests.
Listen below.