Lonerism is the second studio album by Australian musical project Tame Impala, released on 5 October 2012 by Modular Recordings.

Like the band's debut studio album, Innerspeaker (2010), Lonerism was written, recorded, performed, and produced by Kevin Parker, with live member Jay Watson contributing on two tracks.

Recorded mostly in Perth, Australia, and Paris, France, Lonerism builds on the psychedelic sound of its predecessor and features fewer guitars and more synthesisers and samples.

Parker attempted to incorporate his love for pop music into his songwriting for the record through catchier melodies.

Kevin Parker started writing and recording new material for Lonerism almost immediately after releasing Innerspeaker, saying "I started writing songs straight after Innerspeaker, but I told myself I wouldn't get hung up with the pressure, so I kinda pretended they were for some other weird project that wasn't going to have as much consequence".

And these new chords were making me write music that was conjuring up emotions that I hadn't felt in a long time.

I still had two other housemates, but Tame Impala paid for one of the rooms with the band account and all the money we got from festivals.

"[10] With the extra time to record, Parker gave into his desire to make "cheesy pop" songs and said "I've got a whole album waiting for Kylie Minogue.

So I've been really freaked out recently that the album's just going to turn up on YouTube, half finished, or that it's just going to come out under some other Dutch band name.

[15] A controversial music video for the track "Mind Mischief" was filmed on the premises of Ashlyns School in Berkhamsted, England.

[16] Heavily inspired by Todd Rundgren's 1973 album A Wizard, a True Star, Lonerism represents somewhat of a musical departure for Tame Impala.

But I also have a desire to sound like Britney Spears, I love pop music and bad plastics.

Maybe it was because we had suddenly become involved in this indie scene, and a part of my personality was trying to reject whatever environment I was in; we were in love with the idea that people would hate it.

and also describing Innerspeaker as being "pseudo-electronic", and revealing that Lonerism will feature more synths, drum machines and samples.

The choruses and outro of the song feature the classic Tame Impala sound, only more lush and expansive, with heavy guitar overdubs and synth effects.

Whereas this album is like the child version of that, someone growing up and discovering other people and just realising their place is not involved with the rest of the world kind of thing.

It's really just the idea of being someone who doesn't feel part of the rest of the world, someone trying to figure out where their place amongst everyone else is, and having a really confusing time with it and then slowly accepting that it's in their blood just to be a solitary wanderer.

"[12][19] Parker revealed that the album title and general themes of isolation and introspection were selected when "We were touring so much and doing all these gigs and going to places with people.

An example of this is on the track "Keep on Lying", which features a recording of people talking at a party which has been digitally manipulated with delay added.

Parker said "it's meant to sound like there's this dinner party going on and there's music playing in the background" and "for me it makes the listener feel even more alienated", which ties in with the theme of isolation.

Closing track "Sun's Coming Up" has ambient sounds recorded in the second half of the song of Parker "walking from the carpark to my local beach in Perth.

The image for Lonerism was personally taken by Parker with a Diana F camera and edited by Podhajsky; it features an exterior gate of the Luxembourg Garden in Paris.

This image ties into the themes of isolation of Lonerism with the gate separating the viewer from the people in the Gardens.

"[19] Upon closer inspection there is more going on in the image, Parker explains: "I love the expression of people's faces in this picture.

"[19] The sign on the gate, written in French, translates to "Dogs, even on a leash, are not admitted beyond this point" in English.

On 27 June 2012, Tame Impala uploaded a short trailer for the album, featuring a snippet of the outro to the song "Apocalypse Dreams" set to various video footage shot during Tame Impala's Innerspeaker tour, and revealing the title to be Lonerism at the end.

[30] On 9 July 2012, the entire track "Apocalypse Dreams" was released for free download, showing a poppier side to their psychedelia, and a more lavish and expansive sound.

[32] A deluxe edition of Lonerism will follow the regular release, with Tame Impala taking in suggestions from fans about what to include with it.

"[21] "Elephant" features a bluesier side of Tame Impala, heard more frequently on their EP, as the song was written around that stage.

[36] Lonerism has received highly favorable reviews from the likes of Pitchfork, NME, Allmusic, and Spin.