Virtually every instrument is caked in distortion, but not the warm, familiar fuzz of an overdriven amplifier. It feels digital, alien, the sound of modern machines going wrong. All this is underpinned by genuinely great songwriting.
This combination gives Lonerism the best of both worlds, allowing it the creative freedom to emerge as one of the most impressive albums of the home-recording era while still feeling superbly refined.
Lonerism is more fully realized than its predecessor, which may have resulted in some unpredictable obscurity being thrown by the wayside.
Where the debut broke its sound into episodic chunks, Tame Impala now finds a singular sound in the cross-section of timeless pop and psychedelia.
You feel small while listening to Lonerism, but in a way that makes you appreciate how man, machine, and Mother Nature can harmonize.
There’s no reinvention present, nor is it needed. If anything, Lonerism feels like a precious collection of uncovered relics.
Only two albums into their careers as Tame Impala, they've birthed a record on the precipice of their personal perfection.
Despite Lonerism’s inherent sense of emotional isolation he is not alone up there, for deep within the grooves of this euphoric record he has graciously chosen to share with us his view.
‘Lonerism’ is an absolutely amazing and inspiring record. Its arrival is an exciting time for music in general because it is truly “cosmic” pop.
In an era where a resurgence of retro garage sounds tend bleeds into the same distorted, lofi home bedroom recording sound, Tame Impala possesses an uncanny ear for reconstructing psychedelia that spans decades while remaining undeniably present.
This album is incredibly intriguing and was executed beautifully.
Sonic exploration is the name of the game on this album, making it a real treat with headphones.
Sounds phase in and out, drums thunder, guitars chime with warm, valve amp bite, voices are multi-tracked into luscious harmonies, snatched sentences of speech burble in the background, loops repeat and vocals echo distantly, like they’re drifting in from a radio in another room.
Jinking together the familiar, hallucinogen-fuelled guitar strums and splashed-out lyrics of debut first album, ‘Lonerism’, hits a more dejected nerve.
An album that’s likely to appeal to fifty quid blokes who’ll dig the retro influences, people to whom the term ‘chillwave’ actually means something, dance fans and everyone in between.
Where Innerspeaker aspired to impress us at every turn, Lonerism is much more discreet and less concerned with being as seductive as possible. This album is more confident in itself, preferring to offer songs that grow on you rather than immediately instigate enthusiasm.
This album is meditative, layered and confident, simultaneously cooler and more temperate than its predecessor.
An album of glorious psychedelic highs, synth riffs and hazy, hallucinogenic drifts, Lonerism has layers and layers of the wow factor.
With a more colorful recording, bolder experiments, and more expansive jams, Australia's Tame Impala shows nothing but improvement on their sophomore effort, Lonerism.
Lonerism is more than another slab of knowing record-collector rock. An organic, swirling sonic vortex, it’s based around proper, old-fashioned songs.
Immersive, textural and deceptive, it draws you in with warm reverb and dreamy melodies until you suddenly realize you've been zoning out, lost in the spacious drift.
Lonerism is more melodic and expansive than 2010 debut Innerspeaker, connecting the disperate dots with real élan.
Just when you’re tempted to discount the record for style-over-substance tendencies, Parker’s lyrics prove to be the half-hidden heart of it all.
‘Lonerism’ commits neither to pop nor blissed-out transcendence. Instead, a joyous sense of imagination proves to be its own reward.
Arrangements explode or implode, meticulous vocal melodies rub up against perverse sonic sensibilities, genres are hopped, and fidelity is determined by the pure haste of getting ideas down.
For all the alienation implied by the album's continually warping and waving center of gravity, there are colors here brighter than a child's watercolor rainbow.
Lonerism takes you out of yourself, yet somehow deep within yourself, to lay a bedrock of familiar and warming sounds.
It may not break much new ground, certainly not for instrumentation or other reasons given, but it’s one of the most solid albums all year. To hate it really would be extraordinary.
Even if at times there's a feeling Parker's trying to cram too many ideas into one piece, it's a record that will undoubtedly be used as a benchmark for guitar music of the near future.
While Lonerism does feel a bit more expansive, utilizing even more of mixer Dave Fridmann’s fancy effects pedals and studio wizardry, it uses those tools to delve even further inward.
With Lonerism, Tame Impala have doubled down on the kaleidoscopic refractions of their debut. The melodies are clearer, pushed up in the mix, given agency by their immediacy.
Even without the recommended drugs, I'm in the Tame Impala camp, especially in the second half of this album ... That's when we more find ourselves in progressive territory as, inevitably, all smart ''heads'' do.
AND AS IF WE DIDN'T NEED MORE PROOF I'M A SUCKER FOR CERTAIN GENRES. THIS WAS LITERALLY OH MY GOD WHAT ON EARTH MY EARS JUST HEARD THAT
This is the same deal as You're Dead, I'm gonna give it an absurdly high rating to satisfy myself until I listen again and come up with a final score
Edit: Lonerism is an album that manages to basically be perfect in every conceivable way. The recording quality is harsh, but that just adds to the lonely feel of the album. The instrumentals manage to excel on ... read more
This review turned out to be a lot longer than I anticipated, but screw it, this is my only 100 I've ever given (edit: not anymore).
This album is not perfect, and its imperfections make it the most special and unique listening experience that one could have.
I will admit - it took me a while to adjust to this album. Together with seemingly accessible melody passages stands strange production soaked in flangers, delay and reverb - all the things Kevin Parker loves the most. Currents was the ... read more
1 | Be Above It 3:21 | 85 |
2 | Endors Toi 3:06 | 90 |
3 | Apocalypse Dreams 5:56 | 93 |
4 | Mind Mischief 4:31 | 92 |
5 | Music to Walk Home By 5:12 | 89 |
6 | Why Won't They Talk to Me? 4:46 | 92 |
7 | Feels Like We Only Go Backwards 3:12 | 95 |
8 | Keep On Lying 5:53 | 88 |
9 | Elephant 3:31 | 93 |
10 | She Just Won't Believe Me 0:57 | 81 |
11 | Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Could Control 5:59 | 89 |
12 | Sun's Coming Up 5:20 | 82 |
#1 | / | FILTER |
#1 | / | NME |
#1 | / | Obscure Sound |
#1 | / | Urban Outfitters |
#2 | / | Crack Magazine |
#2 | / | musicOMH |
#2 | / | No Ripcord |
#2 | / | Under the Radar |
#3 | / | Treble |
#4 | / | Pitchfork |