We all knew Tame Impala’s eagerly anticipated third album, Currents, would be one of the biggest releases of the year, and so far the reception has been glowing, but it’s just become the biggest release in the band’s history.
Following the news that they had achieved an incredible Number 3 spot on the UK albums chart (besting previous efforts Innerspeaker and Lonerism, which peaked at Number 144 and 14 respectively), the Perth boys now have the Number 1 album in the country.
Currents, the band’s follow-up to 2012’s acclaimed Lonerism, debuted at Number 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, knocking off the recent John Farnham and Olivia Newton-John’s collab, Two Strong Hearts, to dominate the chart.
The sterling debut marks the Kevin Parker-led psychedelic group’s highest ever chart ranking in Australia – Innerspeaker and Lonerism had both previously peaked at Number 4 on the ARIA Albums Chart.
Not too bad for a band who were struggling to draw a crowd at local Perth festivals just seven years ago. Of course, those days are well behind them – the band played a rapturously received set at Splendour In The Grass over the weekend.
Currents, meanwhile, has been receiving huge praise from critics both at home and abroad. Many are hailing it as the band’s best effort yet and the album managed to receive a near perfect score from influential music blog Pitchfork.
Similarly enthusiastic was Tone Deaf’s Joe Harris, who called the album a “piece of shimmering psych-pop brilliance” and a “journey through both Kevin Parker’s emotional and creative state of consciousness”.
