“Borderline”

Kevin Parker is on a journey toward the end of psych rock. The waypoints that made Tame Impala’s early work sound like a Beatles starter kit were transformed into the bulbous psych-pop sound of 2015’s spectacular Currents. “Borderline”—the second single the band has released this year—is somewhere way off the psychedelic map, caught between early-era Weeknd and late-era Steely Dan. It is a product of Parker’s vibrant studio nerdery and the porous music era we find ourselves in. Standing amid the song’s lead electric piano, pan flutes, and a stew of lyrics about how Los Angeles is—spoiler alert—the land of fame-sex-drugs-pain-pleasure-and-doubt, you feel a bit lost in the oxygenless soft rock and, perhaps, you do not trust the guy who led you there.

It can be difficult to connect to Parker’s idea of pop music. “Borderline” is less looking at a lava lamp and more looking at an Instagram of a lava lamp. It doesn’t pull your ear to one corner with a neat synth element or hold your gaze as it becomes fascinated with a word or riff. Instead, it’s just a dense whorl of synths, auxiliary percussion, and ascending vocal lines. A highlight here is Parker’s voice, newly spry and soulful, able to convey real emotion that is nevertheless surrounded by a Jell-o-mold of sound. “Will I be known and loved/Is there one that I trust,” Parker sings on the chorus, bouncing deftly between high and low notes as if in conversation with himself. His uncertainty captures the feeling here too perfectly.