Album Review of The Slow Rush - Tame Impala

BY NEAL MARTIN | MARCH 11, 2020

Since resuming my passion for vinyl, acquiring limited new releases has become a challenge. The chase is far more rewarding than just clicking a mouse. Tame Impala’s aka Kevin Parker’s highly-anticipated fourth album, the aptly-titled “The Slow Rush”, finally hit the shelves on Valentine’s Day after Parker had spent what felt like an eternity teasing its release. The studio boffin, perhaps the closest we have to a modern-day Brian Eno, kept changing his mind and twiddling a few buttons in a quest for perfection. On 14 February I was en route to Endo at the Rotunda, a hot new Japanese sushi-ya that you will soon read about on Vinous Table, when a friend texted me. His message read: Tame Impala - WOW! To be honest, I was not planning on buying the album on its day of release because the tracks that had seeped onto streaming platforms did not make the same impact on me as “Currents”, the career-changing album that thrust Parker into an almost unique position as “avant-garde festival headliner”. Then I discovered that HMV had released a special edition: gatefold coloured vinyl with an exclusive one-sided seven-inch. Just 1,000 copies! I know that seems minor to any rational person but that is catnip to a vinyl junkie.