Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker has explained why it’s taken him so long to release new music after 2015’s ‘Currents’.
The musician released a new single called ‘Patience’ in March – the first new music to arrive after the critically acclaimed third album. Another track, ‘Borderline’, followed it in April.
Speaking to the New York Times, Parker said he would make an album every year if he could, but that he “can’t hurry it”.
“Part of the thing about me starting an album is that I have to feel kind of worthless again to want to make music,” he explained.
“I started making music when I was a kid as a way of feeling better about myself, you know? The ironic thing is, if I’m feeling on top of the world or feeling confident or like everything’s good, I don’t have the urge to make music.”
In the interview, Parker also revealed some of his inspirations when writing songs. “I reckon a lot of artists get inspired by the idea of singing something to a crowd, many thousands of people,” he said. “But me, I prefer just to think about the kid wearing headphones riding the bus home from school, or having a bedroom headphone listening session. That’s where I come from.”
While the follow-up to ‘Currents’ has yet to be completed or given a release date, the star added that it had “taken shape” in his head. “A lot of the songs carry this idea of time passing, of seeing your life flash before your eyes, being able to see clearly your life from this point onwards,” he said.
“I’m being swept by this notion of time passing. There’s something really intoxicating about it.”
Tame Impala headlined Coachella last month, alongside Ariana Grande and Childish Gambino. Reviewing their performance on the first weekend of the Californian festival, NME wrote: “The idea of Tame Impala headlining a festival as big as Coachella is exciting. It says that it’s still possible, in an age where, in the mainstream at least, bands are less popular than pop stars and rappers, for a group to forge their own path of experimentation to the top. […] But, from the eight-minute ravey epic of ‘Let It Happen’ to the psych stomp of ‘Elephant’, and the squelching drift of ‘New Person, Same Old Mistakes’, it is merely nice and not much else.”
Meanwhile, Parker and his band will return to the UK in June for a series of dates, including an appearance at this year’s Glastonbury Festival.