Tame Impala & JENNIE “Dracula”

“Dracula” began as a Tame Impala song long before JENNIE entered the picture.Kevin Parker—the musician, songwriter and producer behind Tame Impala—created the original for his 2025 album Deadbeat. The song used the idea of Dracula not to tell a traditional vampire story, but to capture the strange comfort of nighttime and the uncomfortable moment when daylight begins to arrive.Then, months after the original release, Parker introduced an unexpected second voice.JENNIE, already known around the world through BLACKPINK and her increasingly ambitious solo career, joined Parker for a February 2026 remix.Rather than simply adding her name to an existing recording, JENNIE contributed new vocals and writing that allowed her personality to enter Tame Impala's nocturnal world. Tame Impala is really Kevin ParkerTame Impala sounds like a band name because it began as one.But the studio identity of Tame Impala has long revolved around Australian musician Kevin Parker, who writes, records, performs and produces most of the project's music.Parker grew up in Western Australia and became fascinated with recording as much as performing.That distinction eventually became fundamental to Tame Impala.Rather than simply writing songs and handing them to a producer, Parker treated the recording studio itself as an instrument. His early work combined psychedelic rock with swirling effects, heavily processed drums and layers of vocals.The 2010 debut album InnerSpeaker introduced that sound internationally.Lonerism followed in 2012.Then Parker began pushing much further beyond psychedelic rock.Currents changed the Tame Impala soundWith 2015's Currents, synthesizers, dance rhythms and pop songwriting became much more prominent.Songs such as “Let It Happen” and “The Less I Know the Better” demonstrated that Parker's music could maintain its psychedelic character while borrowing freely from disco, electronic music and contemporary pop.That evolution continued on The Slow Rush in 2020.By the time Parker began working on Deadbeat, released in 2025, the boundaries around Tame Impala had become almost meaningless.The project could be psychedelic.It could be electronic.It could sound like dance music.And occasionally, it could produce something surprisingly direct.“Dracula” was one of those songs.“Dracula” began early in the Deadbeat sessionsThe original “Dracula” was written by Kevin Parker and Australian songwriter Sarah Aarons, with Parker producing the recording.It was released on September 26, 2025 as part of the rollout for Deadbeat. Parker later explained that “Dracula” was one of the songs he started relatively early while making the album.The recording evolved over time.What began as a simpler idea gradually became a tighter, more pop-oriented song as Parker continued working on it during the Deadbeat sessions. That process is typical of Parker.A Tame Impala recording can change considerably between the first idea and the finished master because Parker's writing and production frequently happen simultaneously.With “Dracula,” however, the concept remained wonderfully simple.Why Dracula?The song uses the famous vampire as a metaphor for someone who feels more comfortable after dark.Nighttime offers freedom.Daylight brings discomfort.Parker has also revealed that vampires were already part of his cultural imagination.When discussing the song in an Australian interview with Junkee, Parker specifically pointed to Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula as his vampire reference point. Interestingly, another vampire movie made him nervous while he was finishing the record.Robert Eggers' Nosferatu arrived while Parker was completing Deadbeat.Instead of being excited that vampires were suddenly receiving renewed attention, Parker worried.He wondered whether audiences would become tired of vampire imagery before his own “Dracula” arrived.It's the sort of anxiety only a songwriter could have: spending months creating a song and then worrying that a completely unrelated movie might exhaust the public's appetite for its title. The concern turned out to be unnecessary.And “Dracula” wasn't finished evolving.JENNIE had built a very different careerJENNIE Kim came to the collaboration from an almost completely different musical world.Born in South Korea in 1996, JENNIE spent part of her childhood in New Zealand before returning to South Korea.She eventually joined YG Entertainment as a trainee.Years of preparation led to the 2016 debut of BLACKPINK, with JENNIE joining JISOO, ROSÉ and LISA in a group that would become one of K-pop's most internationally recognizable acts.But JENNIE also developed a separate musical identity.Her 2018 single “SOLO” demonstrated her potential outside the group.In 2023, she established ODDATELIER, giving herself a new structure for managing her solo activities.Then came Ruby in 2025.The album expanded JENNIE's solo world through collaborations with artists including Childish Gambino, Doechii, Dominic Fike, Dua Lipa and Kali Uchis.That willingness to cross musical boundaries made a Tame Impala collaboration much less strange than it might initially appear.Parker started teasing somethingThe collaboration wasn't announced immediately.Instead, Parker had some fun with fans.Tame Impala began dropping hints that something was happening with “Dracula.” One clue involved altering the description of the original music video so that a reference to “Kevin” became a reference to JENNIE.Parker was also spotted wearing JENNIE merchandise.Then on February 3, 2026, he made the collaboration much more obvious.Parker posted a studio clip showing himself turning up a fader labeled with JENNIE's name.Her voice emerged.The mystery was over. JENNIE didn't simply sing the originalThe finished “Dracula (JENNIE Remix)” was released February 6, 2026 through Columbia Records. The official recording credits reveal how the remix was constructed.Parker remained producer, recording engineer and a songwriter. Sarah Aarons retained her original writing credit.JENNIE contributed as a performer, remixer and writer, while Carly Gibert also received a writing credit on the remix. Loren Humphrey supplied additional production. JENNIE's contribution changes the middle of the song.Her softer vocal tone creates a contrast with Parker, and she adds newly written material rather than merely reproducing his existing part.That makes the remix feel more like a conversation between two musical identities.Parker provides the strange nighttime environment.JENNIE walks into it.The production connects two different worldsThe remix largely preserves the hypnotic electronic foundation that made the original recognizable.But JENNIE's presence changes the record's texture.Tame Impala's music often creates the feeling of someone disappearing inward. Parker layers sounds until the listener seems enclosed inside his production.JENNIE brings a different energy.Her background in K-pop and contemporary pop emphasizes precision, personality and performance. Her vocal entrance interrupts Parker's isolation and gives “Dracula” another character occupying the night.The official credits also reveal the international nature of the recording.Parker and Loren Humphrey handled recording work, while Jung Eun-kyung is additionally credited as a recording engineer. Eric J. Dubowsky mixed the remix, with Mendy Stein assisting, and Matt Colton mastered it. The lyric video kept things appropriately strangeTame Impala released an official lyric video for the remix alongside the collaboration.The visual was directed by Julian Klincewicz, with creative direction by Imogene Strauss. Irie Calkins handled shooting and Brandon Mosquera joined Klincewicz on editing. It suited a collaboration that didn't need an elaborate explanation.There was no requirement to make JENNIE sound like Tame Impala.There was no need for Kevin Parker to suddenly make a BLACKPINK record.The appeal came from hearing what happened when the two identities overlapped.Two artists who refused to stay in one laneThat may be the most interesting part of “Dracula.”Kevin Parker started in psychedelic rock and gradually allowed electronic music, disco and pop to transform Tame Impala.JENNIE became famous inside one of K-pop's defining groups and then used her solo career to collaborate with musicians from increasingly different genres.Their paths were completely different.Their instincts were surprisingly compatible.“Dracula” began with Parker imagining the comfort of darkness.JENNIE arrived later and added another voice to that nighttime world.The result doesn't sound like either artist abandoning what made them distinctive.It sounds like two artists discovering that their worlds were closer together than anyone might have expected.Discover more artists and songs on the CLE Radio Power 40.