With four years having lapsed since the last record from Tame Impala, Currents, Kevin Parker has seemingly finally decided that it can no longer coast on the laurels of Rihanna covering “New Person, Same Old Mistakes” as “Same Ol’ Mistakes.” Then again, the most likely reason for taking such a long pause from releasing a full-length album stems from the fact that whenever an artist puts out an intense work–commonly known as “the breakup album” (something Madonna taught Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande all about)–they usually need to take something of a hiatus to recalibrate after having exerted such an acute level of emotionalism into their art. Not to say, of course, that all art shouldn’t be riddled with the passion (or rather, dispassionate passion) that comes from a place of love and having lost it. But sometimes, a bit of perspective from that period of heartache is needed to create from a different headspace.
Still, Parker is well-aware of what his audience seeks from a Tame Impala track and hasn’t failed to deliver in the “new” disco-tinged flavor of “Patience,” the first official single from an as of yet untitled fourth record. Though they tried to sate their fans on a collaboration with Theophilus London called “Only You” in October 2018, it wasn’t enough for those seeking the signature brand of that Parker voice all on its own, against whatever warbling psychedelic backing music he’s come up with next. So it is that he (and, oh yeah, Tame Impala–currently comprised of fellow touring members Jay Watson, Dominic Simper, Julien Barbagallo and Cam Avery) ironically released “Patience” as the first song from the upcoming record, as though to admit to his fans, “Yes, I know. I’ve left you for far too long.”
With lyrics rife with double meaning in terms of who they might be addressing, Parker opens with the line, “Has it really been that long?/Did I count the days wrong? Did we just go back/All the way to step one?” Applying both to Tame Impala itself and potentially either a relationship in its early phases or the very one that served as the subject matter for Currents, Parker wastes no time in getting existential against a lulling piano beat complemented by his standard “fucked up explosive cosmic music.” Though one would think he would have it all figured out by now as a result of his success as a musician and accordingly non-scary bank account, Parker assures, “Another season changes/And still my days are shapeless.”
To this point of shapelessness, “Patience” is very much a lament on the life of an artist, so often glamorized even now, when, to look in on the so-called “artistic process” would be a study in how to become a lazy depressive. So it is that he speaks to the amount of time he’s taken to “produce” something by sardonically remarking, “…time waits for no one/I should be flying straight, don’t be late/’Cause time takes from everyone.” And yet, “still [his] ways are aimless.” Luckily, for those who have been enduring enough to wait for that aimlessness to take shape, “Patience” is proof that Tame Impala has only continued to grow “into itself,” as it were, even if it was a spurt that took almost an entire presidential term to achieve. So yes, Tame Impala wants to remind us that the old adage, “‘Patience’ is a virtue” still holds true, even in an age of impossibly irrevocable instant gratification.
