Tame Impala’s “Dracula” walks out of the club at dawn and refuses to squint. The single lands with a glossy, nocturnal bounce and an official video that keeps the frame sleek and kinetic: reflections, city glow, motion as mood.
It’s the third taste of Deadbeat, due 17 October 2025 on Columbia, and it arrived the day Kevin Parker previewed it with Zane Lowe, another breadcrumb in this era’s after-hours trail.
What “Dracula” is about is quite clear in the lyrics. Parker writes the night as refuge and the day as a glare: “The morning light is turning blue… Daylight makes me feel like Dracula.”
The lines sketch a love that thrives off-peak and a self that’s easier to carry when the lights are low: “In the end, I hope it’s you and me… Won’t ever see me in the light of day.”
Read together, the lyric isn’t vampire cosplay; it’s social camouflage, a confession that the version of you that works best might only clock in after dark.
That’s the backbone of the song’s meaning and why the lyric is relatable; depicting romance as sanctuary, darkness as self-preservation.
On the ear, it’s velvet and volt. The drum programming snaps, bass runs rubbery, and synths throw soft neon across the floor; Parker’s falsetto hovers just above it, warm rather than aloof.
The mix leans into a pop/pageant shimmer but keeps the detail work Tame Impala heads chase, little passing chords and pivot notes that feel like a wink to the Currents faithful.
You can hear why it slots between “Loser” and the widescreen sweep of “End of Summer” as the campaign unfolds.
The split-screen effect is the trick: one side is a hookup hymn in a black-box world; the other is a self-portrait of someone who “runs from the sunlight” because daytime asks for a grin they don’t have.
The chorus, half plea and half pact, turns the night into a compact: I’ll meet you where the noise dims and the colours make sense. That dual read gives the single its replay pull; it’s a mood and a mask at once.
It feels like Parker is leaning further into pop and the disco/R&B slipstream, which makes this feel bar or party perfect.
On the other hand, it also moves like fall air through an open window, and in that sense the song is doing what a third single should: staking a lane without closing doors.
Deadbeat is set for 17 October 2025, with “Dracula” seated alongside “Loser” and “End of Summer.”
The video package underscores the polish, and the album details are locked in across official channels.
At its core, the song makes a simple choice: keep what works about the night and let it protect what’s fragile.
That’s why the meaning lands beyond the gag; it’s a tender cheat code for anyone who comes alive when the lights drop, and a neat promise for Deadbeat: introspection you can dance to, with just enough shadow to feel like you’re getting away with something
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- Florence + The Machine — “Everybody Scream” lyrics & meaning: eerie trot, bonfire pulse
- B.Miles — “Five Alarm” song review: slow-burn desire in the dark
- Seth Gauton — “Nonchalant” song review: soft confession, sudden lift
- TENDER — “Gravity/Infinity” review: breathy rush, big-love stakes
