Kevin Parker has said that if he could change one thing about the earlier Tame Impala records, he would make the vocals louder.
With the band's 10th anniversary performance of their iconic debut album 'InnerSpeaker', he has achieved much more than that, reaching a new benchmark for fidelity in the world of live-streamed music performance. Tame Impala opened the window and welcomed fans into Wave House (21 April), a hybrid mini-mansion beach shack overlooking the sprawling Indian Ocean where the group tracked 'InnerSpeaker' over a decade ago.
Though the idyllic property is host to a 300-seat limestone amphitheatre, the group chose to invite viewers into the living room studio for their show, front-row to the same expanse of sepia-singed horizon that coloured their early inspirations.
Riding on the back of countless remixes, collaborations, and their most electronic record yet 'The Slow Rush', one might have wondered whether the explosively guitar-driven sounds of 'InnerSpeaker' would still hold the same magic for Kevin and co.
This line of inquiry was instantly demolished by the dawning ascent of 'It Is Not Meant to Be', pluming into the sunset with the rich tones and textures the band have come to exemplify.
Bathed in the light of glimmering dusk, Tame Impala became one with their surroundings as they tore into 'Desire Be Desire Go', a roaring fuzz orgy divided by passages of plunging tom fills and baroque vocal harmonies.
Jay Watson held the fort on bass and backing vocal duties, providing the true-to-record parts that anchor 'InnerSpeaker''s deceptively intricate puzzle.
Though absent original member Nick Allbrook, Shiny Joe Ryan of sibling band Pond cemented the family with the crucial percussion parts that glue 'InnerSpeaker' together in such tracks as 'Alter Ego'.
Also present from Pond was Jamie Terry, fastening kaleidoscopic lenses on the fly as cameras swivelled and spun to the throbbing whirl of 'Lucidity'.
As atmospheric instrumental 'Jeremy's Storm' bloomed into its woozy groove, Dominic Simper introduced the cinematically apt sound of synthesised waves, washing in alliance with the blackening sea.
Patently serene, Kevin Parker would oft turn to face the ocean skyline, absent-mindedly conjuring new segues and transitions by way of shoegazey whammy bar sorcery.
Drummer Julien Barbagallo stampeded his way through the thunderous rhythms of 'The Bold Arrow Of Time', exhuming beats with impeccable precision.
The introduction of a newly fuzzed-up arrangement to the synth outro of 'The Bold Arrow of Time' brought a fresh dimension of astonishment to the proceedings, carving out renewed anticipation for the album's pinnacle opus, 'Runway Houses Cities Clouds'.
The long-form foray breathed with pristine vitality over its seven-minute lifespan, endlessly escalating in intensity as the buildup to its exultant release edged closer.
Awash with swathes of blissfully blown-out guitar riffs, the sun dove into a navy haze as Kevin suitably sang: ". . . I'm gazing out the window, as I ascend into the sky."
The group brought back a 'Runway Houses Cities Clouds' ostinato as a refrain to pop-banger finale 'I Don't Really Mind', granting a sense of gratifying unity to the show's closing moments.
Remarkably, Tame Impala's Wave House performance not only managed to capture the essence of the album's euphoric, revelatory spirit, it channelled that purity of intention and rare, ephemeral beauty into something just as culturally vital and philosophically relevant as 'InnerSpeaker' itself.
Tame Impala 2021 Tour Dates
Tue 7 Dec - Qudos Bank Arena (Sydney)Thu 9 Dec - Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Sun 12 Dec - Rod Laver Arena (Melbourne)
Mon 13 Dec - Rod Laver Arena (Melbourne)
Wed 15 Dec - Adelaide Entertainment Centre Arena
Sat 18 Dec - RAC Arena (Perth)
