“Borderline” by Tame Impala

"Borderline" was the first taste of what became Tame Impala's The Slow Rush, out as a single on Modular on 12 April 2019, long before anyone knew an album was coming or that it would slip into 2020. Kevin Parker wrote it and did everything else too, singing, playing every instrument, producing, engineering and mixing. He'd already unveiled it on Saturday Night Live on 30 March, ad-libbing much of the words because they weren't finished yet.

It leans on yacht rock and disco, with a glossy, sunlit swing that sits oddly against lyrics about nihilism and insecurity. When the album arrived, Parker had reworked it, changing music and words, mainly because he felt the bassline wasn't loud enough. It's the third track there, and the original single was pulled from streaming once the album was out.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.