‘Dracula’ Co-Writer Sarah Aarons on Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker & ‘What Makes His Stuff So Good’

Throughout much of Tame Impala‘s career, the Australian psych-rock group has been a critical darling as its following and stages have both increased in size. Yet, even as the act has littered Billboard‘s rock- and alternative-focused charts, it never reached the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 — until last month.

With the pop-leaning single “Dracula,” Tame Impala has officially sunk its teeth into the chart: Following a debut at No. 55 on the Oct. 11-dated list, it has lurked well beyond the shadows and scaled to a No. 33 high. Plus, the breakthrough may have opened the floodgates, as two other songs from the group’s recent album Deadbeat — released through Columbia Records on Oct. 17 — have since reached the Hot 100 (album opener “My Old Ways” and second single “Loser”).

It’s hard to point to one thing in particular as the spark for the act’s now-exploding mainstream appeal — frontman Kevin Parker’s extensive work on Dua Lipa’s Radical Optimism likely didn’t hurt in bringing in an extended fan base, but it’s just as plausible that his characteristic warble and high-level production finally reached the masses at multiple formats (including TikTok) in a capacity that was long overdue.

Whatever the reason may be, coming to a finished product for “Dracula” was a years-long process, according to co-writer Sarah Aarons. The 31-year-old Melbourne native recalls that the two were tinkering away endlessly to get everything just right, still making fixes to the lyrics two hours after the mixes were due. “There was just something about it that bothered him,” Aarons says. “That crunch-time moment made us be like, ‘Alright, what is it? What are the lyrics? What’s the structure? Go.’ ”

She also lent writing assistance to fellow Deadbeat tracks “Oblivion” and “Afterthought” and is notably the only person outside of Parker credited as a writer or producer anywhere on the album. Aarons notes that the two would spend hours on end in the studio and on phone calls throughout the creation process for the album, growing a close friendship along the way — so much so in fact, that Parker even helped DJ her wedding earlier this year.

Below, Aarons reflects on creating “Dracula,” what makes Parker such a talent to work with in the studio and more.

How did you first connect with Parker?

He was in Australia, and I was in L.A., and there was something he was working on that I don’t think even ended up happening. Someone put us in touch and we had a FaceTime call, and I don’t think we even talked about whatever the thing we were supposed to do was. We just talked s–t. Then the next time he came to L.A. three or four years ago, we hung out and we had this thing where I was like, “I just got a puppy, do you mind if I bring my puppy to your studio? My puppy’s name is Peach.” And he was like, “My daughter’s name is Peach!” And they were both like three months old. It was a weird bonding moment.

Were you already working on “Dracula” or anything else from Deadbeat that long ago?

No. He knew he had to start something. I remember him being like, “Yeah, I should probably figure that out.” It was always like a joke that we all made — me and my wife are quite close with him and his wife. So when they’re in L.A., we would always bring it up and he’d be like, “Yeah, I’m going to have it done in three months.” And we’d all have an argument whether he’d do that. But I think that’s what makes his stuff so good. He really does take his time, and he’s really intentional about what it all sounds like.

“Dracula” took a long time, in the way that there are so many iterations of what it was. There was this one song that was what the chorus is — I call it the chorus, he calls it the pre-chorus — [sings] “In the end, I hope it’s you and me.” We’d worked on that a couple years ago. Then there was this song that we’d written called “Dracula” that his wife loved. One day he just sent me a thing, he was like, “I put the line from ‘Dracula’ into this other idea.” It was the [sings] “Run from the sun like Dracula.” He mashed that into that one line from this other idea, and I was like, “Oh damn, that’s kind of sick.”

It was a really long process in that way. Piece by piece, he’d be like, “Actually, now I think the song’s about this.” Sometimes he’d call me, and I’d be in London and it would be 11 p.m. for me and 9 a.m. for him. We just had so many moments where he’d be like, “The verse is bothering me.” And I’d be like, “Okay cool, let’s get into it.” But it’s funny because we wrote “Afterthought” two hours after the mixes were due. He just called me and he was like, “I have this beat and I feel like the album needs one more song.” And it literally ended up being called “Afterthought,” which is really funny.

“Afterthought” started two hours after the mixes were due?

Yeah. He had called me to finish “Dracula” — I was in London, he was in Australia. “Dracula” was the only song that wasn’t finished. He was mixing everything else and he sent me a picture of a whiteboard that had ticks on it of what he’s done and what he hadn’t — everything else was all ticked and then “Dracula” had no ticks. The beat was always the same, but it was more the lyrics and the structure [that changed].

How much does it impact the writing process to work with someone so well-versed on the production side of things as well?

Oh, it’s so much easier. Everything is him; it sounds so much like him. For me, it’s not easy to get a lyric past him. You can’t just say a lyric, and he’s like, “Cool, I’ll put that in there.” He has to feel the thing or it will not go in the song, whether it’s production, lyrics, melodies — anything. I love that because I’m like, “Oh cool, you’re making me have to really think what is best for you.” It’s not a song for everyone. It’s a song for [Tame Impala]. He’s expressing himself in so many aspects of the songs. When you’re with an artist and it’s like, “Oh, let’s get the producer to do (mimics the sound of a beat),” it’s so many cooks. With him, he’s just doing his thing.

How did the two of you finally come to terms with the final lyrics for “Dracula” given all of the changes over what sounds like a yearslong process?

It’s really interesting, because I’m a person that can keep writing. Like, “Cool, you want a different thing, let’s go!” I’ll do a different one. It’s really up to the artist, because for one person it might be one thing, and for one person, it might be another. There are certain things I might fight for — there were certain lyrics where the melody changed, and I was like, “Bro, you better keep that or I’m going to have something to say about it.” But other than that, he’s gotta hear it and go, “This is mine.”

I think it was the crunch time. It was like, “Cool, this mix is due in 45 minutes.” When you know you have a deadline, your brain just goes, “This is the right thing.” He called me and he went, “What about this melody?” And I was like, “Yeah! How did we not do that melody already? It totally fits the song.” We’d written lyrics so many times, we already had so many lyrics floating around our brains. We had so much of what we knew the song was that it kind of clicked.

You also co-wrote “Oblivion” and “Afterthought” on this album. As a writer, is it easier to work on several songs from the same project versus a one-off in terms of sculpting a cohesive voice or theme that an artist is looking for?

I totally feel that way. Every once in a while, you get one day with someone, and it’s just so hard. You’re just not built to be like that collaboratively, to me. I think the multiple songs is more just a result of the fact that we had fun making s–t. If he ever got stuck, he’d just be like, “F–k it, I’m calling Sarah.” I also heard everything else [on Deadbeat], because we would just chill in the studio and play stuff. That for me was super helpful. Also, knowing the person really well: I found that all my biggest songs the last few years have been people I’m super close with. That’s such a common thread for me at the moment. Music’s supposed to be fun. There’s a reason I’m not an accountant. I’d be bad at it.

As far as I can tell, you’re the only credited songwriter on this album, which is also produced in its entirety by Parker. Does that hold any special meaning to you?

I’m grateful that he called me for help. I’m super flattered. It all happened so naturally in such a friendly way — that’s my favorite thing. It’s funny how you can try as a songwriter so hard [and say], “Oh I want to work with this person and this person.” You can write a list of who you want to work with, but that’s not what gets you there. The universe has to put you where you need to go to make music with the people you should make it with.

A version of this story appears in the Oct. 25, 2025, issue of Billboard.