Do we like them?

Do we like Kevin Parker?

Our score: 7 out of 10. Decent record, a real bushfire donation and an environmental protest gig, but little on record about his views on people, so we stop short of the top.

Kevin Parker is the Perth-based mind behind Tame Impala, a project he has largely run himself. His fifth album, Deadbeat, followed The Slow Rush (2020) and arrived in October 2025 with singles Dracula, End of Summer and Loser.

The latest goss is gloriously low-stakes. He won a Grammy at the February ceremony in Los Angeles while he was in Western Australia, having forgotten it was on, and found out from the messages the next morning. His line: “I forgot they were even on.” Hardly a scandal, more a very Parker shrug.

The nearest thing to a controversy is old. In 2015 Parker was accused by some listeners of sexism over the song ‘Cause I'm A Man. He told NME he understood the criticism, saying “I understand how it can be perceived as sexist, almost misogynistic,” but denied it, saying he knew deep down he wasn't. Make of the lyric what you like; he engaged with the complaint instead of hitting back.

On the harm test, we found nothing: no campaigning against LGBTQ+ or trans people, no conspiracy rabbit holes, no dodgy co-stars or studios in the sources we read. That's partly because he mostly keeps politics out of interviews, so the record is thin rather than glowing. A couple of reputable pieces on his 2015 royalties fight involved a label and publisher, not any wrongdoing by him.

The good stuff is real. In January 2020 he pledged AUD $300,000 from Tame Impala's Australian tour to bushfire relief, saying he was “devastated to see what's been happening with the fires at home”. Earlier, in 2017, he played a DJ set as DJ Defs Worth It at a Perth protest gig against the Roe 8 highway extension, which opponents argued would harm the environment.

He has also been upfront about his creative choices. When fans said Deadbeat was a commercial move, he told Zane Lowe a real sellout would just repeat what worked, saying he could have made a batch of Elephant re-dos and landed on every American car ad. It's a fair point from someone who clearly isn't chasing safe money.