My Least Favorite Tame Impala Song: “Breathe Deeper” featuring Lil Yachty 

Haley Goode, Staff Writer

Tame Impala put Lil Yachty on one of their older songs “Breathe Deeper” seen on “The Slow Rush” album made in 2020. The song gives the same Tame Impala groovy vibes that previous listeners know and love, but also a taste of chill rap from Yachty. The song was released on Oct. 6, 2021. Tame Impala is known for very euphoric and kaleidoscopic music, drawing teenagers and young adults to their music. Adding Lil Yachty to the song was surprising considering his songs like “iSpy” and “Pardon Me” that are the complete opposite of Tame Impala’s. Originally before the feature with Yachty, the song sounded like it wouldn’t have any room or fit with rap in it. In the song, Tame Impala’s lead singer Kevin Parker describes how breathing in stress situations can help you stay calm. 

I personally did not like the remix with Yachty. I do not think it matches the vibe Tame Impala goes for in their music. I think the rap portion of the song could have fit in better with their song “Let It Happen,” which is a faster paced song that is also almost eight minutes long. Lil Yachty’s verse in “Breathe Deeper” is about him and a relationship with a girl rather than about Kevin’s idea of the song about letting stress go. Rap is more fast paced, aggressive and up beat, which I do not think blends in well with the type of music Tame Impala produces. The first verse in the remix from Parker introduces the stress he talks about, “Seems you’re coming on, breathe a little deeper should you need to come undone and let those colours run.” With only a little under three million streams on Spotify, the remix is surprisingly Tame Impala’s seventh most popular song on Spotify. 

Instead of adding a rapper or rap section to this song, I would add another group like Mild High Club or Summer Salt. They make similar music and have fans who enjoy Tame Impala. I’m not sure if rap would work in those group’s other songs. It sounds like more of a clash of music rather than all blended like Tame Imapala’s songs. Yachty has a good verse that actually relates to the meaning of the song: “All that enеrgy I held in, I’m givin’ it out I forgot ’bout my problems, I’m livin’ it up.” This is the first song Yachty has been on in the Indie genre of the music industry. I have listened to this song a few times here and there, but I cannot picture Yachty being on another Tame Impala song.