Currents is the third full length album from the Australian psychedelic rock band Tame Impala. The group’s founder, Kevin Parker, records and produces most of the music, but during tours the band consists of Dominic Simper, Jay Watson, Cam Avery, and Julien Barbagallo.

The album is very different from their past efforts, there is a very clear distinction between this album and their last album; Lonerism. In terms of sound, the band has decided to change up its use of instrumentation for a more synth-pop sound compared to the heavy, almost dirty sounding guitar riffs of Lonerism. There were synthesizers in Lonerism, but in Currents it is more apparent that the band wanted to stick to a more light and electronic sound on this record.

A lot of songs seem very reminiscent of the new wave synth-pop movement in the 80’s, especially in songs like “The Moment”, where the melody and overall vibe of the track reminds me of Tears for Fears song “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”. While this may be the case there are also some tracks on this record that sound like the ones on Lonerism, like the song “Eventually” very clearly takes from their last album in the sense of the heavy guitar riffs.

If there is one thing that hasn’t changed much it is the lyrical content of the songs. Most of the lyrics are written by Kevin Parker, and the themes are consistent with Lonerism, such as topics of loneliness and isolation. While these themes are apparent in Currents, there are also a few topics that talk about being in the moment and not really taking anything too seriously. But the album also asks that in spite of these new age philosophies such as living in the moment, is there something more than just living out your life and merely existing? In the end, the band does seem like it is going through some changes in sound and their overall personalities, but it feels like they took a step back in this album compared to their last album Lonerism. At times Currents feels more like a pop record rather than a Tame Impala record. In Lonerism they had a really interesting sound going, but in Currents some songs sound a bit bland and boring. On a scale of one to ten I’d say that this album would probably deserve a 6.5/10.