Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker invents new synthesiser The Orchid

Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker has invented a new instrument – a synthesiser he has dubbed The Orchid.

The Australian musician has been developing the chord generating tool for over a decade, and it will now be released via Parker’s Telepathic Instruments company, with the first limited-edition run being available to purchase from December for $549 (£437).

You can watch a trailer for The Orchid below, and visit here for more information and updates on its sale here.

The Orchid brands itself as being easy to use, with just 13 keys, along with voicing options, built-in speakers, a MIDI out port and a rechargeable battery.

It boasts three synths – a polyphonic virtual analog subtractive synth, an FM synth for modulations and a “vintage reed piano emulation”. Users can experiment with several modes, with the instrument supposedly accessible for creative music fans with no prior theory knowledge.

In other Tame Impala news, they recently appeared on the track ‘Neverender’ by Justice, which has just received remixes from Kaytranada and Rampa. The track was originally included on the French duo’s latest album ‘Hyperdrama’ in April.

Kevin Parker also launched a new fashion range with the Parisian brand A.P.C. in July that was described as “psychedelic minimalism”.

Dua Lipa brought Parker out during her headline set at Glastonbury 2024 for a performance of Tame Impala’s ‘The Less I Know The Better’. He had served as one of the lead producers and co-writers on Lipa’s album ‘Radical Optimism’, and he has described her as an “absolute weapon”.

In May, it was revealed that Parker had sold his entire music catalogue to Sony Music Publishing, including all past and future releases, both as an individual and as Tame Impala.

“The idea of passing on ownership of my songs is one that I don’t think about very lightly, at all,” he said. “They are the fruit of my blood, sweat and creativity over all the years I’ve been a recording artist and songwriter so far.”

He continued: “I have a lot of love and trust for the Sony publishing family and have only had great experiences with Damian Trotter and the rest of the gang worldwide. I don’t think my songs could be in any safer hands than Sony’s, and I’m excited for the future and happy I can keep working with them on whatever the future brings.”

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