Tame Impala’s “Deadbeat”: When Psychedelia Hits the Club

By Lucienne Burns | November 3, 2025 

           Photo Credit: Pixabay

Tame Impala’s fifth studio album “Deadbeat” debuted Oct. 17, bringing club beats and an occasionally catchy sound. But is this “new” vibe what fans wanted? 

“Deadbeat” is the first Tame Impala album to come out in five years, following the 2020 release of “The Slow Rush.” Behind Tame Impala is musician Kevin Parker. Parker’s fifth musical project consists of 12 tracks, totaling up to just under 56 minutes. 

Prior to its recent release, three singles were released before the entire album: “End of summer,” “Loser,” and most recently “Dracula,” a festively-titled song just in time for October and Halloween celebrations. 

This album focuses less on Parker’s previous discography of psychedelic pop, leaning more into beats found in genres like house or EDM. It also shifts completely away from the notes of disco found in “The Slow Rush.”

This change makes sense, as Parker mentioned in an interview with The New Yorker that the album was really shaped by the sounds of all night dance parties or raves held in his home country of Australia. 

Despite Parker’s admiration for irregularity in his music, fans online are expressing their disappointment with the album’s flow and criticize the album’s duality of great tracks versus ones that underwhelm. 

“This might be the only Tame Impala album with songs I’d actually want to skip. Don’t get me wrong — I’m a die hard fan, and I appreciate any new music from [him],” said a Reddit user in a thread discussing the album release. “I love how this album blends so many genres, but sadly, it lacks the cohesive album-listening experience I was hoping for.”

“The good songs are amazing, but the bad songs are terrible, and I will skip on every subsequent listen,” said another fan on Reddit. 

Despite this discourse online, I personally enjoyed listening to this album. I can admit that house music is not my cup of tea, but I appreciate the idiosyncrasy and Parker’s ability as an artist to create these diverse and eccentric sounds throughout the album. 

Beginning with “My Old Ways,” the album hooks you with an acoustic piano entrance, something a little unusual for Parker, but transitions smoothly into a catchy melody. Traveling through struggles with his past habits, this song brought me right back to the “Currents” album, which is one of my favorites. 

“No Reply,” hooked me in yet again with a catchy melody, synthesized harmonic vocals, and another use of acoustic piano, this time utilized to transition out of the song. This is when I noticed something sounded a little strange with the drums– for this album, the drum machines were plugged into guitar amps, making them sound more distorted. 

“Dracula,” released as a single, is for sure a standout on the album. The song’s groovy and seamless production makes you resonate with the music. The song’s minor key bassline and dark mood gives it the spooky vibes just in time for the Halloween season. This is Parker's most popular song on Spotify currently, reaching over 44 million streams. 

Another single, “Loser,” has a solid, catchy baseline. This track reminded me of “Borderline,” a single off Parker’s previous album, matching its strong beat and overall vibes. 

“Not My World” felt a little too repetitive for my taste. In this track, similar to “No Reply,” I really picked up on the tinny sound of the drum machine, and I am not sure it really works in this song. It was very distracting and sounded distorted. 

In “Piece of Heaven,” I really loved the vocals and smooth melody, making it one of the standout songs on the album. There are a lot of layers to this song, but if any musician can make it work, it’s Impala. 

“Afterthought” is another one of my favorite tracks on this album. With its catchy sound and experimental effects, each of its layers had me hooked.  

Throughout all of this, while I can say that my favorite album has to still be “The Slow Rush” with “Currents” coming in second,  I enjoyed listening to this album. The reason I didn’t enjoy it as much as the others is just because I am not a huge fan of this genre overall.

Tracks I chose to leave off this review didn’t stand out to me very much, some even feeling empty with their repetitive beats, but this could just be because of my disenchantment with house music. 

I have been a fan for years, and one of the things I admire most is Parker’s raw talent across different genres. He recently appeared on NPR's “Tiny Desk” concert series, a challenging set for an artist who utilizes so many synthesizers and vocal alterations, going all-acoustic for the first time. 

I will have to give it another listen soon to see if some of the more repetitive tracks grow on me a second time through. While I disagree and agree with some of the criticisms by other fans, I am still so excited to keep listening and even go to the Deadbeat Tour next week. 

One thing is clear: while fans had criticisms of this album, it can’t be denied that Impala is a master of texture, eccentricity, and psychedelic pleasure throughout his discography– and I am looking forward to what comes next.