Possession by Ty Segall: Album Review
Possession by Ty Segall: Album Review
Perhaps the Frank Black of his generation, Ty Segall is a master of hooks, amiably strolling chord progressions, and get-up-and-dance–like wind-up toys. The press release for his 16th studio album Possession conjures the artist taking possession of sepia-toned licks of yore “… suggesting an ecstatic new empire to build as he cruises the countryside in his glittering craft …ripping riffs jaggedly out of past hits for a new purpose.”
Perhaps the least guitar-forward album of his career, Possession draws on the horn sections and strings of iconic 1960s and 1970s rock as a crayon. Possession here is the spiritual kind. Or perhaps, in a looser sense, a suggestion that things in life tend to possess us– if we dare to look closer.
I hear Beck, Spoon, The Raconteurs, Steely Dan, and, because he’s reverse-engineered their vocal harmony from Abbey Road’s “Because”, the Beatles. He uses these catchy vibes in a way similar to how Warhol used Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” with day-glo stripes of vibrant color overlaying the originals.
Like The Beatles, his songs can feel obvious, inevitable, sort of classic on a first listen, like, “Oh duh, of course that’d be a song!”
The album’s opener, “Shoplifter,” is one such track. The eponymous character is a Robin Hood unto herself:
“She’s gonna clean them out/ She’s a shoplifter/ But the rich gettin’ richer It makes her wanna scream and shout.”
Instrumentally, it’s a bit of a walk to the payoff where the verse finally gives way to a melodic resolution, which in turn transforms into an a cappella outro.
The title track, “Possession,” flips the script on the witch trial narrative. Here, the accusers are the possessed:
“It’s those who point that dread the bells, and hell is what they’ve chosen/ That’s the power of possession/ Yeah possession.”
Denée Segall
The horn section is interesting, and the lyrics are clever. Does the music, a strummy acoustic pop song with horns, connect to the story? Not sure!
On “Buildings,” Segall builds a Rhodes-y keyed groove as he anthropomorphizes buildings:
“You can’t replace the look from the face of the buildings/ They see through me/ They know what I’m doing.”
His vocals on “Skirts of Heaven” laudably sound like George Harrison, and the horns here work toward lofting the aspirations of the music to match the words, a spiritual anthem about the ineffable unattainability of the cosmos.
Possession drops Friday, May 30th.
Denée Segall
The orchestral strings on “Alive” have a Moody Blues flavor, and though the groove is fast and engaging, it’s also repetitive and lacks a complete resolution.
On “Another California Song,” Segall sings: “A star I was supposed to be/ Now nobody’s calling me/ It’s a little concerning.”
It’s an interesting line because there is an ambivalent quality to this album–toeing the line between novelty and tedium. It’s recycled rock that works because Segall is a genius at arrangement and making sounds, but a distance or detachment undermines the power at times, and maybe that’s what’s a little concerning.
Ty Segall has made real rock in an era that’s seen far too little. His sound is legit cool, classic, and brilliant. On Possession, he gambles with listener attention in an era when stars dare not take the risk.
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