Tame Impala, the one-man psych-rock project by Kevin Parker, makes its long-awaited return with their fifth studio album, “Deadbeat,” after releasing the chart-topping psychedelic album “The Slow Rush,” which led to over half a decade of radio silence. Parker continues to create a lush, futuristic sound with this album, but the vocals, lyrics and pacing leave a lot to be desired.

On “The Zane Lowe Show” by Apple Music, Parker claims that “Deadbeat” was primarily recorded at the Wave House, a legendary beach house on the west coast of Australia, which had been previously used for recording artists such as Beastie Boys, as well as Parker’s albums “Innerspeaker” and “Currents,” but what we got with this release is anything but legendary. The album feels devoid of deep lyrical content, an area in which Parker’s previous albums have always been top-notch. Many delivered lines feel corny and written without thought, such as on the song “No Reply,” with the lyric “You’re a cinephile, I watch Family Guy on a Friday night, off a rogue website.” The lyrical themes on this album are no stray-away from the other Tame Impala albums. Themes of familial love, loneliness and isolation were all apparent, but the execution feels hollow and flat compared to lyrical masterpieces like “Currents.”

Where “Deadbeat” shines best is the production and soundscape that Parker creates. This album has a completely different sound from his older projects, but still holds on to some of the disco undertones present in parts of “The Slow Rush.” Parker hones in on this groovy, danceable sound with most of the songs, while the iconic psychedelic rock style takes a back seat throughout almost the entire album. Songs like “Dracula” have moments where the beat will fade and there is clear background noise, giving the feeling of being at a party or disco, which is a new sound for Tame Impala, but is pulled off with little error and in a way that sounds fresh and enticing, which makes the production easily the best part of this album.

“Deadbeat” is a creative detour from every other Tame Impala release in nearly every way, and some of the new ideas stuck well, while others, such as the lyrics, fall short compared to Parker’s previous works. For these reasons, I give this album ⅗ stars, and hope Parker continues to experiment with this new sound on his future works while also taking the time to hone in on his lyrical depth and album pacing.