InnerSpeaker Album Review

As the maiden voyage album of Tame Impala, InnerSpeaker is a unique, yet eerily familiar project, blending 60s-70s psychedelic vibes with a modern 2000s indie rock twist.

It Is Not Meant To Be

This track kicks off with a sort of static-y fade in to twangy rhythmic picking in the right ear, juxtaposed by a simple and smooth bass melody, setting the table for the rest of the tonal trip you’re about to go on. From the jump, these tones evoke a very classic 60s vibe, making the mind grasp for comparisons to the Beatles, Beach Boys, and other projects of the era. Kevin Parker’s vocals make no effort to debunk this connection, both in their sort of mellow, nearly falsetto quality, and the content of the lyrics.

I think this track really highlights why Tame Impala even became something people paid attention to. It presents this unique and desirable blend of 60s experimental tonality, while also very much being the end result of that experimentation. People care about his music because the music of that era did what it did. The way that Kevin is able to blend the source material with the end result is thoroughly fascinating to witness.

Lyrically, this song tells the tale of the writer’s failing relationship, which he claims to be “meant to be”, while confronting the reality of its vapidity in his own mind. He reflects on how he desired to be with her, while also realizing how little they have in common, contemplating how the song of their connection will come to an end. The last lyrics paint a morbid picture of the writer having a sort of incurable disease in which he is frozen in this space, never to move again, implying he will remain in a dissatisfying relationship.

Desire Be Desire Go

Despite jumping in with high energy and gainy, overdriven guitar tones, this song presents the uncomfortable reality of the balance between passion and reality. It’s not hard to see how this song parallels Kevin’s own creative process, following the ebb and flow of passion and the effect that has on one’s own mentality about their work. Ultimately, work requires some sort of interest, if not in the work itself, in the reward it yields.

This sort of metacommentary is interesting, especially so early in the tracklist. It’s almost as if the messaging is “this is a passion project, but sometimes it’s much more project than it is passion. I can never seem to bring balance to the two, they simply take me where they wish.” The honesty and transparency is appreciated, and I think that’s a large part of why his music resonates with so many.

Alter Ego

Following a spectacular minute-long instrumental intro, Alter Ego discusses the tendency/ability to take on a façade that is more enjoyable for other people. The purpose of this “Alter Ego” is to attempt to get people to love you, fulfilling the need for validation. This song feels as though it is a conversation the author is having with himself about whether or not to “activate” the alter ego in order to appeal to the girl of his dreams who is right next to him in the moment. When framed this way, it is much more apparent to see how Kevin feels about the alter ego. It is ultimately not real, but is a necessary evil to achieve your goals.

Lucidity

Yeah this is pretty much exactly what you’d expect a 60s-70s psychedelic song to be. Sounds great, extremely abstract, talking about the desire to feel control again and restore order to your senses. It’s not hard to read between the lines here though.

Why Won’t You Make Up Your Mind?

There is no deeper meaning. This is about the music, not the lyrics. The dissonance, the distant notes, the airy feel with crashes in between, it all serves to cause this sort of "head in the clouds” feel about thoughts swirling around in your head. It feels like a peaceful space that is being cluttered with frustration with streaks of harmony where you start to piece your thoughts together. It’s good.

Solitude Is Bliss

One of my favorite things in music is when I hear a song that doesn’t really sound like any song I can think of, and that’s a big reason I enjoy Tame Impala so much. The intro flanger guitar riff and accenting drums of this song evoke that feeling so uniquely. While I hesitate to call this one of the most musically impressive tracks on this album because so many of these songs fall into that category, it is certainly one of the most unique.

Lyrically, the concepts here are fairly simple. This song reflects Kevin’s feelings of angst toward people who he no longer wishes for connection with. The chorus is key to the meaning of this song, stating “you will never come close to how I feel”, which I believe serves two meanings. The first meaning is the literal expression of someone else’s inability to understand your personal feelings. The second meaning is that the person he is addressing will never be able to come within proximity of Kevin’s own personal feelings, so as to cause further conflict or influence. It’s an interesting way of thinking about things.

Jeremy’s Storm

As the name implies, the song was inspired by a literal storm which occurred near Kevin’s own home. It’s really not hard to figure out how that correlates with all the static, dissonance, and jumbled instrumentation, which somehow still seems to all flow in the same direction despite all the chaos it brings. I love this song, and as strange as this particular piece of praise is to give, I cannot think of a song that better illustrates the appearance of a storm, even down to the waning guitar chords at the end. Outstandingly cool.

Expectation

I’m just going to come out and say that this is my favorite track on the whole album. The cold open of beefy sounding guitar chords instantly gives this feeling of expectation about what is to come. What I love about this track is how it shows just how focused Kevin is on his drum sound as well as how pivotal the drums are to the overall feel of a song. The offbeat timing of the drumbeat simultaneously accentuates and counteracts the rest of the instrumentation, acting like its own imposing force on the overall sound of the feeling he is describing. Everything about this piece comes together in this cacophony of punchy sounds that both thrill and overwhelm you.

The instrumentation so fluently underscores this feeling of expectation being described. He discusses this anxious feeling of expectation of what his significant other might say, whether or not the love they’ve had is real, and an examination of why he cares so much about having someone, especially the person he is writing about. The track so perfectly encapsulates this loosely defined feeling of worry over the truth of someone’s affection for you.

The Bold Arrow of Time

This song falls firmly in the category of tracks like Lucidity and Why Won’t You Make Up Your Mind?, as pieces that are mostly experimental, with lots of the parts you would expect from an experimental, psychedelic rock song. I find this interesting because something about the riffs and vocals evoke a feeling of the style and era this song was actually written, which is late 2000s indie psych rock. What a vibe.

Runaway Houses City Clouds

Vocally and tonally, this song dips heavily into the experimental psychedelic influence this album is known for. Lyrically, this song is about the discomfort of change, as well as the discomfort of the lack of change. It has this very head-in-the-clouds feel of looking down on your home as you venture beyond it. Not one of my favorites, but its place is well earned.

I Don’t Really Mind

There’s something about the drums and guitars in this song that is just sooooo quintessentially Tame Impala to me. There’s a certain simplicity to the drums that is so effective in engaging a sort of trance-like loop which is complemented so effectively by the synths and fuzz-heavy guitar tones. The guitar, although crunchy and fuzz-laden, has a certain whining weakness to it that gives this sort of vibe of being unbothered that really highlights the truth behind the lyrics and title. I find it ironic how the most dated sounding part of this song is actually the most similar to the most famous Tame Impala work… which we’ll get to later.

Personal Rating

The examination of InnerSpeaker sheds some insightful ideas into why people cared about Tame Impala in the earlier years of the project, as well as why the name “Tame Impala” has achieved the heights that many now know it for. As far as a first full album, I do feel that Kevin knocked this out of the park. In some ways, it feels that this was only “part one” of a series, while in others it feels as though it tread a path that wouldn’t be followed for very long. Tame Impala has taken some interesting turns, and while I won’t be writing a documentary, it’ll be interesting to follow it through the discography.

While this album does offer some really unique and heavily psychedelic tones, I always find myself asking “is that always a good thing?” every time I listen to it. If 70s psych rock is your vibe, I absolutely think this is a winner. However, if you are in it for unique and pleasing psych-indie rock tones that you can’t find anywhere else, I think you’ll find the mix in this bag to be occasionally tiresome. As more of the latter than the former, I give this record an 8/10.

Thanks for not reading.