Kevin Parker is taking the Deadbeat route.
The celebrated psychedelic pop artist and production wizard is lining up his fifth Tame Impala album, Deadbeat, for a global release Oct. 17th — his first through the Sony Music machine.
Deadbeat is inspired by the “bush doof” culture of his native, Western Australia rave scene, and recasts his ongoing art project as “a kind of future primitive rave act in the process,” reads a statement.
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The second taste from Deadbeat is “Loser,” a track that’s accompanied with a music video directed by Kristofski and starring Stranger Things‘ Joe Keery (aka Djo). It’s the followup to lengthy electronic banger “End of Summer,” which arrived, fully formed, in July of this year.
“Loser” is a departure from those parties in paddock, instead taking us on a magic carpet ride to a funky ‘70s houseparty. And no, it’s not a cover of Beck’s self-deprecating classic from 1994.
Parker “largely galvanized” the new album between his hometown of Fremantle and his studio, Wave House in Injidup, WA in the first half of this year.
Essentially a one-man band (though Parker takes a full unit on the road), Tame Impala has collected ARIA Awards, APRA Awards, a Brit Award, and earlier this year, a Grammy, by way of a collaboration with Justice.
Deadbeat arrives more than half a decade after The Slow Rush, from February 2020, a record that went to No. 1 on Australia’s ARIA Chart, and earned career peak positions on the Billboard 200 and Official U.K. Albums Chart UK, both at No. 3. Its predecessor, 2015’s Currents, topped the Australian chart and crashed the top 5 in the U.S. (at No. 4) and in the U.K. (No. 3), where Parker collected the Brit Award for best international group.
The forthcoming album “sounds like the work of an artist with a leveled-up mastery, crafted with a newfound embrace of spontaneity for the renowned perfectionist,” reads a statement. “How that manifests is a distinct minimalism and crunch, with timbres and textures that add an ineffably new dimension to the sound, as well as a richer, more playful vocal range than ever.”
The new collection is the first through Columbia Records, following a years-long relationship with Modular Recordings and Universal Music.
Although Tame Impala is not currently on tour, Parker will enjoy the southern summer when he takes the stage as a a special guest DJ for Justice’s Australian arena tour in December 2025.
Deadbeat is available for pre-order here, and exclusive vinyl color-variants can be ordered here.