Tame Impala's Kevin Parker has not released any new music since 2015's Currents - making "My Life", his recent collaboration with ZHU (EDM singer-producer Steven Zhu), particularly valuable to longtime devotees. The song itself does not break into any new lyrical territory; it foregrounds Parker's known penchant for maintaining a distance from commonplace societal norms, expectations, and obligations. The song's repetitive verses and chorus insists on the primacy of Parker's inner life ('Don't tell me/ It's all in my mind/ In my mind'), while the bridge serves as a relatively polite plea for the oppressive shackles of conformism to keep away: 'Let me live my life'.
The song's music festival-ready production (a four-on-the-floor rhythm pattern, airy synths, and a thumping bass) may not be particularly revelatory, but it makes for a pleasant contrast with Parker's distant, existentialist, and mildly world-weary vocals. With Parker's prior claims of writing an entire album of songs for Kylie Minogue, the unapologetic embrace of his pop inclinations on Currents, and his recent work on Lady Gaga's Joanne (2016), "My Life"'s poppy and mainstream-friendly direction of should not come as a surprise. A bit more emotional intelligence in the songs you hear in the clubs, malls, and stadiums should be a good thing.
