Tame Impala to Perform on Saturday Night Live This Month
Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Music News Tame Impala
NBC has revealed that beloved Australian psych rockers Tame Impala will make their Saturday Night Live debut as the show’s musical guests on March 30, with hosting duties taken over by Sandra Oh. The news broke in a tweet from SNL with the show’s typical sticky-note announcement format and a caption telling fans to mark their calendars.
Mark. Your. Calendars. @IamSandraOh@tameimpalapic.twitter.com/cVnxAnZIzd
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) March 10, 2019
The announcement comes amid rampant speculation about Tame Impala’s Currents followup, which frontman and songwriter Kevin Parker has said will arrive by the end of the year. The performance could indicate that a lead single is on its way, as artists often schedule releases to coincide with their performances on SNL.
Parker also recently fanned the flames by posting a short studio video to the band’s Instagram with a few seconds of new music playing overhead. The new material showcased in the clip seems to continue in the direction laid out by Currents, with glossy synths and a textured, infectious guitar line.
Tame Impala have announced a string of high-profile festival gigs for the spring and summer, including a headlining slot at Coachella that they announced with a tweet reading, “New year. New shows. New Sounds.”
New year. New shows. New Sounds. pic.twitter.com/M9eETezG6z
— Tame Impala (@tameimpala) January 3, 2019
Tame Impala’s last few releases were the Currents Collectors’ Edition box set, which included b-sides and remixes from the album, and a collaborative track with Grammy-nominated artist ZHU titled “My Life.” Parker also released a pair of tracks with Theophilus London as Theo Impala, titled “Whiplash” and “Only You.”
The band’s third full-length album Currents came out in 2015, and was widely lauded for its immaculate production and newfound interest in pop songwriting. Check out the video for the Currents hit “The Less I Know the Better” below, along with the band’s Daytrotter session from 2010.