#382: Currents

Revisiting Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2020)

Tame Impala, 2015

Australia’s Kevin Parker really comes into his own with this 2015 album. This album quickly became another one of my favourites, with bangers throughout. It’s indie dance rock, and gets better with each listen.

Opener “Let It Happen” is an epic, nearly 8 minute jam, “The Moment” and “Eventually” are great, and the best songs are “The Less I Know the Better” and “New Person, Same Old Mistakes.” But each song on this album works to flow into the next, even the so-so “Past Life.” There are connecting instrumentals and short mood pieces leading into higher intensity tracks, though I wouldn’t call this album “intense:” it’s a dance album, with wild synth and beats, and spectacular bass lines. Parker’s voice, a sustained falsetto, drifts in and out of the tracks like it’s always been there and you just notice it once in a while.

“New Person, Same Old Mistakes” might be the best on the album. The bass line is iconic, and the hi-hat-leading percussion is sparse but memorable. The vocals are hypnotic and repetitive, with the verse creating a two-part round. Rihanna will cover this one on her fantastic album ANTI, with Parker’s help on production. Released only a year after Currents, her version is called “Same Ol’ Mistakes” and features the exact bass line, percussion and synth. Her voice is an extremely close approximation of Parker’s and the two versions are nearly identical until the chorus, where Rihanna’s voice is more assertive, singing over top Parker’s original, creating a duet. Rihanna keeps it low-key and serves the track well, making it contemplative, providing a bit of a counter to the rest of the dance-pop tracks of the album. I’ll go more into that album when I get there - it’s #230 on this list, and #21 on “The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21^st Century So Far.”

Currents is a well-deserved #148 on the 21^st Century list, and has a well-deserved place on the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.”