Ty Segall’s Simplified Rock Approach: A Winning Strategy

The press release sent to journalists highlights a new album that embarks on a journey to explore “new horizons”. It would certainly be too simplistic to state that Ty Segall is just being Ty Segall. However, the trajectory pursued here is a continuation of the journey that began with Three Bells (2024).

Guitars are prominently featured, and the result is as beautiful as cruising through California on an old Greyhound bus with a glam rock playlist (with major influences like Bowie, Bolan, The Runaways) blaring loudly. The melodies are inspired, the riffs are catchy, and Mikal Cronin’s saxophone is electrifying. It’s simple yet extremely gratifying.

America as the Muse

Indeed, Possession may not break away from rock as drastically as First Taste (2019), where he put aside the guitar to experiment with an array of instruments from the Quai Branly museum’s storage like mandolins, bouzoukis, and kotos, or as seen in Harmonizer (2021) with its futuristic-metaphysical concept. But, one often writes best about what one knows intimately.

Once again, it’s America that serves as the muse, the same America he has traversed in battered cars for hundreds of concerts. Co-written with his filmmaker friend Matt Yoka, Possession blends ordinary realism with poetry. The beauty doesn’t come from simplicity but from the continuity of effort. Critics may accuse him of looking too much to the past? Ty Segall doesn’t care; he’s paving his own path for the sheer joy of creating music and performing live. Straight ahead.

Possession (Drag City/Modulor). Released on May 30.