Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker reveals ‘Elephant’ “almost didn’t make the album”

Tame Impala‘s Kevin Parker has revealed his beloved cult single ‘Elephant’ “almost didn’t make the album”.

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The Australian multi-instrumentalist spoke to Zane Lowe about the decision to nearly cut ‘Elephant’ from his second studio album, 2012’s ‘Lonerism’.

When asked about songs that “scraped” themselves onto the album, Parker told Lowe: “Every song… every single song has been deliberated over. I’ve loved it and hated it.”

“‘New Person, Same Ol’ Mistakes’ almost didn’t make the album,” he continued. “A bunch of songs – ‘Elephant’ almost didn’t make the album. Every artist has those stories.”

‘Elephant’, released as the lead single for ‘Lonerism’ in July 2012, has gone on to become a staple in Tame Impala’s sets. Meanwhile, ‘New Person, Same Ol’ Mistakes’ from his classic 2015 album ‘Currents’ would go on to be covered by Rihanna on her album ‘ANTI’ in 2016 – which Parker would later say he “loved”.

Parker also revealed that the penultimate track from his upcoming album, ‘Deadbeat‘, nearly didn’t make the cut as well – despite being his “favourite”.

He told Lowe he started the song at 5pm on the second and last day of mastering the album. “I was like, OK, I’ve got this demo that I’m gonna work on – I’ll get to it later coz I was still mixing and working the other songs,” he said.

“I didn’t get to it until an hour after everything was due on the second day,” he added. “But honestly, ‘Afterthought’, it’s my favourite song on the album”.

Parker is due to release his fifth studio album ‘Deadbeat‘ on Friday (October 17). So far, he’s released the tracks ‘End Of Summer‘, ‘Loser‘ and ‘Dracula‘ to preview the album.

He also recently shared a snippet of ‘Not My World’ while sharing footage of his Mexico City DJ set.

Soon, Tame Impala will set off for a huge US, UK and European tour. Parker will commence his UK and Europe leg in April 2026, where he’ll land in London to start his run of UK dates at the O2 Arena on May 7.

Parker will then visit Manchester (8), Birmingham (9) and Glasgow (11) before finishing off with a final show at Dublin’s 3Arena (13).

Visit here for US and European tickets, here for UK tickets and see all dates below:

Tame Impala’s 2025 and ‘Deadbeat’ tour dates are:

2025 US Tour

OCTOBER
27 – Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York [NEW]
28 – Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York [NEW]
31 – Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York

NOVEMBER
01 – Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York
03 – United Center, Chicago, IL
06 – Moody Center, Austin, TX
09 – Pechanga Arena, San Diego, CA
11 – Kia Forum, Los Angeles, CA
12 – Kia Forum, Los Angeles, CA
14 – Oakland Arena, Oakland, CA
15 – Oakland Arena, Oakland, CA
17 – Kia Forum, Los Angeles, CA 

2026 UK and European dates

APRIL
04 – Super Bock Arena – Pavilhão Rosa Mota – Porto, Portugal
05 – MEO Arena – Lisbon, Portugal
07 – Movistar Arena – Madrid, Spain
08 – Palau Sant Jordi – Barcelona, Spain
10 – LDLC Arena – Lyon, France
12 – Inalpi Arena – Turin, Italy
13 – Unipol Arena – Bologna, Italy
14 – Hallenstadion – Zurich, Switzerland
16 – Olympiahalle – Munich, Germany
18 – PreZero Arena – Gliwice, Poland
20 – O2 Arena – Prague, Czechia
23 – Barclays Arena – Hamburg, Germany
25 – Royal Arena – Copenhagen, Denmark
26 – Avicii Arena – Stockholm, Sweden
27 – Unity Arena – Oslo, Norway
29 – Uber Arena – Berlin, Germany
30 – Festhalle – Frankfurt, Germany

MAY
01 – PSD Bank Dome – Dusseldorf, Germany
03 – Accor Arena – Paris, France
04 – Ziggo Dome – Amsterdam, Netherlands
05 – AFAS Dome – Antwerp, Belgium
07 – The O2 – London, United Kingdom

Elsewhere, watch Vampire Weekend cover Tame Impala, Phoenix, TV On The Radio and more at Just Like Heaven.

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