Kevin Parker clones himself for Tame Impala’s Colbert performance

Tame Impala was the musical guest on last night’s edition of A Late Show with Stephen at Home. Instead of grabbing an acoustic guitar and firing one straight down the lens, Kevin Parker became three to play ‘Is It True’.

From left to right, Parker played bass, sang lead vocals and played guitar. Each Parker wore a different outfit – the bass player went shoeless, recalling Parker’s onstage preference in Tame’s early years – and all performed in front of a clock that showed a different time. The video of Parker the bass player was mirrored to make him a lefty. This nicely linked with his chosen axe, a Hofner viola bass popularised by Paul McCartney.

Parker also dialled in some impressive lighting to bring extra tactility to proceedings. There’s a question of how much of what we hear was actually being played live, but it’s definitely a remixed version of ‘Is It True’. Everything is cranked right up and the bass in particular sizzles with distortion.

‘Is It True’ appears on Parker’s latest Tame Impala album The Slow Rush. The album came out in February, ending a four and a half year wait for new Tame Impala music. The Slow Rush continued Parker’s success with the music commentariat, gaining four star reviews from The Guardian, Pitchfork, NME and Q Magazine.

In our own review – another four star rating – we said The Slow Rush removed “fears that Kevin Parker might have succumbed to the burden of expectations, serving as one of his most accomplished releases yet.”

The Slow Rush also debuted at number one in the ARIA album chart and number three in the US Billboard 200. Parker recently appeared on Rick Rubin’s Broken Record podcast where the two shared notes on their contrasting production styles.

Check out ‘Is It True’ by Tame Impala:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewKBFoLYpL4

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