Tame Impala’s third album, the eagerly awaited Currents, is out later this month. The album is easily one of the most highly anticipated of the year and the first round of reviews indicate fans are in for a treat.
Besides a few revealing long-form interviews, including a chat between Kevin Parker and The Guardian during which the mastermind revealed the album had been inspired by the experience of listening to the Bee Gees coked out and on mushrooms, the band has been mostly keeping quiet.
They’ve instead opted to slowly drip-feed tracks from the album to fans via the internet. They most recently unveiled the whoozy instrumental piece ‘Nangs’ via a behind-the-scenes video, which shows Parker alone in his home studio, working on the album.
However, it appears the drip feed has now turned into a full-blown leak. According to Has It Leaked?, an online music database, which keeps track of whether or not upcoming releases have found their way online ahead of time, Currents has in fact found its way onto the web.
The album is still a full nine days away from release, so this is obviously a blow to the band’s label. However, Parker’s feelings may be a little less clearly defined, as he’s stated he’s fairly ambivalent towards illegal downloads.
“I feel like music will be free sooner or later, and I think I’m all for it,” Parker said during a Reddit AMA session. “There’s all this talk of music needing a monetary value, this ownership of music, even that it needs a physical form.”
“But intrinsically… it’s MUSIC, it should be better than that. Some of my most important musical experiences were from a burnt CD with songs my friend downloaded for me at a terrible digital quality… I didn’t care… it changed my life all the same.”
Parker later shocked fans when he revealed he hasn’t made any money from Tame Impala’s overseas album sales. However, it soon became apparent that this was the result of a dispute between the labels handling the band over the publishing deal covering their international royalties.
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The band has not addressed the Currents leak, nor have their label, Spinning Top Music, so there’s no indication the release of the album will be pushed forward and fans can still expect it to arrive next week Friday, 17th July.
Tone Deaf reported back in January on a similar situation involving Icelandic singer Bjork, whose album Vulnicura appeared on the internet several months ahead of its scheduled March release date, prompting her management team to plot a full-scale damage control operation.
While we obviously don’t condone the leak of any album, a few Has It Leaked? users who simply couldn’t help themselves have posted their initial thoughts about the record and the reception has been very positive. “Fucking album of the year? Yes, AOTY!” one user wrote.
Meanwhile, the professional reviews have been similarly glowing. As NME wrote: “From the crisp, hip-hop accenting on the drums to the full-bodied bass and vivd synths, Currents is an audiophile’s wet dream.” Still, we think we’ll wait another week and actually buy it.
