BEAST MODE

Kevin Parker seems surprisingly composed for someone under enormous pressure. In a few hours, the 33-year-old will play to nearly 20,000 people at London’s O2 Arena, many of whom are desperate for him to make an announcement.

It’s been four years since the release of Tame Impala’s third album, Currents: a glorious fusion of dance, psychedelic rock and electronica that became an international hit, clocking up hundreds of millions of plays online. The trajectory behind that has been an improbable rise – one that’s forced a solitary stoner to get comfortable with the demands of success.

Growing up in Perth, Western Australia, Kevin would tinker with music in his bedroom as a way to keep his head together. His parents (his dad was an accountant from Zimbabwe who played music in his spare time, his mother a “free-spirit” from South Africa) divorced when he was four, only to briefly reunite 10 years later. The emotional fallout from that helped shape Tame Impala: a one-man studio band whose introspective anthems now warrant stadium tours and collaborations with the likes of Lady Gaga and Kanye West.

Along the way, Kevin’s fanbase – one of the most fervent in contemporary music – has grown impatient for more. The anticipation intensified earlier this year when an appearance on Saturday Night Live coincided with two new singles, setting up a run of live dates including prime-time slots at Coachella and Glastonbury, as well as back-to-back nights at Madison Square Garden. Some interpreted this as a sign that a new album must be imminent. Others have grown increasingly despondent at the lack of a title or release date, wishing he’d spend every waking moment finishing the job. No tours. No collaborations. No media appearances. Just the next instalment.

In reality, Kevin Parker is on his own timetable. Conjuring a Tame Impala album means pushing himself to the brink of burnout – staying up all night to record alone, caught somewhere between crippling self-doubt and obsessive drive. Yet today, in