Tame Impala's Kevin Parker performing during the Australian 'Lonerism' tour in 2012 | Image: Mark Metcalfe/Getty

Kevin Parker Looks Back on 10 Years of Tame Impala’s ‘Lonerism’

October 6, 2022

Tame Impala‘s second album, Lonerism, turned 10 years old this week and Kevin Parker has reflected on the album’s anniversary on Instagram. He began by saying that creating the record was a “pretty special time” during which he “truly discovered [himself] as an artist.” Parker found a “new sense of purpose” following the release of 2010 debut Innerspeaker.

“I had finally given myself permission to let music take over my being completely… to become totally immersed in my own world of recording music,” Parker said.

Tame Impala – ‘Feels Like We Only Go Backwards’

Parker continued: “I had this new sense of creative freedom. I felt free to be ambitious, weird, pop, experimental, whatever, and didn’t feel judged because I was finally just doing it for myself and believed in myself.” Parker went on to reveal that on the day of release, he thought the album “sucked” and “couldn’t imagine people enjoying it” – fears which were, of course, unfounded. “The album dropped and exceeded all my expectations and my life changed massively again.”

Lonerism was released on the 5th October, 2012 and spawned the singles ‘Apocalypse Dreams’, ‘Elephant’ (which has had something of a second life thanks to The Wiggles), ‘Feels Like We Only Go Backwards’ and ‘Mind Mischief’. It earned Parker his first ARIA Awards, nabbing Album of the Year and Best Rock Album at the 2013 ceremony, and also his first Grammys nomination, for Best Alternative Music Album.

Over the weekend, Tame Impala celebrated Lonerism‘s 10th anniversary by playing the album in full during their headline set at California’s Desert Daze festival. As a result, several songs the band have never or rarely ever played made their way into the set.

‘Be Above It’ and ‘Music to Walk Home By’ were both played for the first time as a band since 2015 and 2016 respectively, and it was the live debut of ‘She Just Won’t Believe Me’. Parker and co. concluded the set with album closer ‘Sun’s Coming Up’, which hadn’t been played since 2010.

Tame Impala’s long-awaited homecoming tour in support of The Slow Rush will kick off this month, with arena shows in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. Find dates, details and tickets here.