On this week in 2012, Tame Impala released their second studio album, Lonerism. Following Innerspeaker, an organically produced piece filled with guitar-riff dominance, Kevin Parker brought on the weight of technology in this 8-bit feeling masterpiece; an electric joy ride among all things natural, sentiment and conflictive thought processes, merging together the beauty of what is a hallucinogenic mindscape along with the entirety of being painfully human.
The album begins with a whispering, slowly increasing into a growing subconscious. “Be Above It” is simple, stagnant, but captivating. Among popular tracks such as the beat bumping “Elephant” and epitomized psych-rock track, “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards”, the album is filled with hidden gems like “Apocalypse Dreams” which lives up to everything it’s title claims to be; a color-drenched daydream with an irrevocably hopeful feeling. Others like “Mind Mischief” crushes with confusing crushes, Parker sings with gut, a tear here and there, a drumming whirlwind of hypnotizing vocals.
Strings are hit with “Why Won’t They Talk to Me?”, revealing the fortress of solitude in relation to the outside world, with a staccato-fueled bridge to take the weight off yearning. “Keep on Lying” takes listeners to another dimension; a song mainly made up of background noise that fills the human head day after day, while rhythmic riffs leads join thoughts combusting on the inner links of the brain and processing of an emotional experience.
Lonerism creates the ambiance of just that; the singularity of an individual, upheaving the very essence of self-experience. The album reached number 34 on the charts in the U.S. and sold over 210,000 copies. It was certified platinum in Australia and nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 56th Grammy Awards. Lonerism created the base for what was to come next, a picked up sound of redemption and progression in what would be Currents.
