Tame Impala: Deadbeat (2025) – Album Review
Image credit: Columbia Records, 2025, from NME.
Kevin Parker takes the listener on a blissfully groovy journey through his turbulent experiences of unrequited love on his fifth album.
Kevin Parker is in his feelings throughout Deadbeat (2025). Parker establishes a narrative of longing and infatuation on this album backed by blissfully groovy instrumentation throughout its 56 minutes. This was an interesting conceptual direction for Parker to take when considering the album title, as one could be forgiven for expecting a more pessimistic exploration of his domestic life.
Thankfully Parker appears to be a present and loving father as far as we can tell from Deadbeat (2025). He even gifts his daughter, Peach Parker, the honour of gracing the album cover. Nonetheless, Parker, or perhaps the character he assumes on this record, is clearly experiencing issues in his romantic life.
This is made clear on the second track ‘No Reply’. Backed by driving drums and hints of keys, Parker is explaining himself for failing to properly connect with an ostensible love interest, apologising for his lack of replies and how “uptight and preoccupied” he was. He presents his love interest as desiring more affection from Parker, as well as wanting him to express more interest in their life. However, Parker insists on defending his actions, presenting himself as characteristically different to his love interest and just wanting to “seem like a normal guy”.
Fundamental characteristic difference between Parker and his love interest is only one of quite a few barriers to love that appear on this album. The introductory track ‘My Old Ways’ presents a man who repeatedly descends into old stubborn habits. It is ambiguous what type of “temptation” he finds himself succumbing to initially, but as the album progresses it becomes more likely that Parker’s vices (similarly unexplicit in the lyrics) are simply another barrier between him and his love interest.
Parker at times appears to be his own worst enemy in romantic relationships, as further evidenced on one of the singles on this album, ‘Loser’. On this song he explores the painstaking task of trying (and ultimately failing) to save a relationship. It is almost framed as a competition between lovers in which he has come out the “Loser” because he did not achieve his desired goal. The heightened vocal effects aid the delivery of his lyrics, accentuating the sense of annoyance and disappointment he feels. The more measured pacing and simple yet effective guitar melody act as a very necessary backdrop for Parker to communicate his struggle, and while I am talking about production, it must be said that the sound of the album is once again a notable highlight.
The repetitive piano work infused with some hits of synths on the opening track platform Parker’s performance nicely, while the glistening keys and entrancing vocals on ‘Dracula’ heighten a legitimately groovy Halloween banger. Songs like ‘Dracula’ and the aforementioned ‘Loser’ also feature the better hooks on this album. The production overall tends to alternate between being bright and warm and dark and moody. Interestingly, the feel of the production does sometimes inform the feel of a track’s lyrical content.
The song ‘Oblivion’, for example, features very bright and summery production with practically angelic vocals from Parker, certainly a song that could easily become a radio favourite. The lyrics, however, state that Parker will “choose oblivion” if he cannot be with his love interest. The blissful, almost ethereal atmosphere of the song arguably mirrors a state of oblivion, but it is obviously not a satisfied state as it has come at the cost of love.
Conversely, the following track ‘Not My World’ sees Parker exploring feelings of detachment and alienation as he claims that the outside world “looks better from a distance”. It is unclear why he feels as though the reality of this outside world is unattainable for him, and the spooky, visceral, Thriller-esque melodies in the production perhaps embody the darkness of the alienation that Parker is experiencing.
By the midpoint of the album you have basically heard all of the lyrical concepts and specific production choices that permeate the entire album. However, it is after the midpoint that the album starts to lose a bit of steam. The track ‘Piece Of Heaven’ is a fuzzy and glistening song with a repetitive synth pattern throughout that may remind listeners of the popular Christmas song ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’. However, while what Parker is describing in the song is wholesome, whether that be the experience of being in a love interest’s bedroom or being in his own private sanctuary where he records music, the lyrics do not really develop past the point of being rudimentary.
An extra-long track dominated largely by the production with little-to-no lyrics is a common occurrence on a Tame Impala album, so the inclusion of ‘Ethereal Connection’ was unsurprising. However, with the little lyrics that are on this song (the constant expressions of desire and promises of reassurance), Parker is not adding anything narratively to the album that was not already covered more interestingly in previous songs. Lyrics being completely absent from the song would have provided the exact same impact.
The most tedious listen on this album, however, has to be the song ‘See You On Monday (You’re Lost)’. The slow-paced, cartoonish melody of the instrumental does not really develop into something grander or more exciting besides some small hits of synths and glistening keys towards the end of the song. While Parker’s exploration of romance’s cyclicality is fine in concept, I am once again left baffled by the lack of effort in the lyrics. The expectation is not for Parker to dissect these experiences like Kendrick Lamar, but some longer verses (especially on a beat this uninteresting) with more than just surface-level platitudes would not hurt.
Thankfully, the album gets back out of this minor lull and ends on a fairly strong note. ‘Afterthought’ seems to be the closer before the closer, as the final track on this album ‘End Of Summer’ was another single. These two spacey and groovy tracks appear to present the culmination of Parker’s experiences of unrequited love throughout the majority of this album. Parker has realised how many chances he has wasted with his love interest, but he still ensures that his true feelings for this person are expressed at the very end of this album, leaving the listener with uncertainty around whether Parker was rewarded or not.
Overall, Deadbeat (2025) is a mostly enjoyable listen and a solid return after The Slow Rush (2020). The album features a few passable songs and one skip. However, the highs on this album still massively outweigh those lows due to the consistently soothing and groovy production, as well as some suitable vocal melodies and catchy choruses.
Words by Ian Mahop