TY SEGALL - “POSSESSION” REVIEW
Written by Beau Croxton
Ty Segall by Denée Segall
On Possession, Ty Segall excels with the immediate accessibility of his best work, while maturing and expanding his sonic palette.
17 years and many albums into Ty’s Segall’s prolific career, he brings forth his 16th LP Possession - an album that rekindles some of the best aspects of his work while expanding his artistic vision and palette. While Possession has a few elements of his last record Three Bells, it mostly exudes the acoustic charm of Segall’s great folk-y album Sleeper, and recaptures the immediate accessibility of his classic-rock tinged album, Manipulator. Possession resembles Ty’s earlier work in the 2010’s with its more traditional pop structures, which feels fresh and instantly satisfying. With this record, it mostly feels as if Ty wanted to create his own version of very classic tried-and-true 70’s Americana rock, while also being very mindful of what was deemed classic and anthemic in his own catalog; both are on display here.
Notably, Ty Segall plays the vast majority of instruments On Possession (drums, bass, keys, piano, guitar, and vocals). In addition, Ty’s long-time friend and collaborator Mikal Cronin arranges gorgeous string and brass sections on the record and plays saxophone, all of which serve as quite an ambitious and show-stopping addition to the already-successful formula. These arrangements are very alluring and full-sounding; they really embellish some major highlights into this feel-good material and expand Ty’s instrumental world in a dazzling way. Segall also finds an interesting way to shake things up with his visual collaborator, Matt Yoka. Ty and Matt Yoka collaborated on Possession’s lyrics, depicting different American stories, giving this album a bit more of a unique storyteller vibe than some of Ty’s usual offerings. Although the record is often soft and more mellow than his garage-rocking heyday, Possession has plenty of energy, fuzzy guitars in the mix, and it is often quite anthemic. Again, one of the album's biggest highlights is the details; the brass and string arrangements are often arresting and sound very carefully calculated.
“Shoplifter” is a great opener and serves as a perfect sonic sampler; Ty’s vocal harmonies and the additional arrangements really shine to lure you into the sonic magic ahead. It weaves you through lush string arrangements, saxophone and Beach-boys style vocal harmonies that highlight the rest of the record ahead. “Possession” leads in very triumphantly, and it is a very worthy title-track. The lead guitar melodies in the intro would go extremely hard on a violin at a renaissance fair; and it makes sense, considering the song is about the Salem Witch Trials. The track pumps with the prowess of “Powerman” by the Kinks, and has bold chord changes in the bridge that are reminiscent of The Who. The majority of the track is ripe with vocal harmonies, busy arrangements, and harmonized glam-rock guitars, which help it stand proud as the best track on Possession. You gotta love it when that works out with a title track…Surely, this track will be held as a modern classic in his catalog.
“Buildings” is more of a meditative and moody track that resembles some of the material on Three Bells. A bridge led by strings swells halfway through the track, which really lifts the song to a heavenly zone of celestial vocal harmonies. While the song might not be the best of the bunch, the bridge demonstrates there are bright spots everywhere on Possession. The shift between the moody verse and the dreamy bridge section is masterfully executed and it is such a great snapshot of what works so well on this record.
Speaking of bright spots- “ Shining” enters with a “Wooo!” and follows with the accessible rock that made Manipulator one of Ty’s most enjoyable records. Fuzz guitars beam in with some cranky squealing, recalling some of Ty’s signature sounds. A highly enjoyable and classic rock-out concludes the song with a doubled guitar solo and busy bass lines– “Shining” would be an ideal song to extend at concerts with his live band. “Skirts of Heaven” follows, continuing to lean into classic rock. The track brings its own unique version of celebratory vibes with mariachi-esque brass sections that sound like they are conducting a joyous ceremony for you as you enter heaven.
Possession album artwork by Denée Segall. Out today on Drag City Records.
“Fantastic Tomb” finds Ty channeling Marc Bolan. This is where his lyrical collaboration hits a high point, in a much more story telling mode. It's an amusing tale of a heist gone wrong, a thief gets (forever) stuck inside the cellar of the multi-million dollar home he was looting. The outro section revels in great sing-along and rock-out moments, and the song is structurally very well written— it’s a total standout.
“The Big Day” is dominated by ultra-glammy harmonized guitars and glorious descending piano lines, like some wondrous early 70’s T. Rex or Bowie rock-out. The lovely guitars and piano radiating through the track are comparable to the feeling of sunshine beaming down on your face in a convertible. The lyrics suggest the song could be about some sort of homecoming celebration- but when the music cuts to Ty singing “It’s good to be getting free / all we wanna do is keep it that way/ love is here to stay / don’t let them break us now”— it is a timeless message. Those lyrics serve as an important message that resonates heavily right now, given the current state of affairs in the world. The track closes with a nice touch— a slow fade singles out the piano in a beautiful way.
“Hotel” is a song that cleverly uses a progression used in the song before, building a seamless connection in the arc of the album. The lyrical collaboration with visual artist Matt Yoka is highlighted in songs like this– descriptions of paranoia and cryptic meetings with a man in the hotel really paint a vivid picture like an artsy short film. The track starts with strong strings and wonky ascending pianos right out of the gate. There is a brilliant red herring of dissonant strings halfway through the tune that manages to land seamlessly into a lovely harmonic section, and it brings things back on track smoothly; its deliberate and effective work.
Ty Segall by Denée Segall
“Alive” finds a very strong dynamic between the drums and strings arrangements, while the acoustic guitars are much more simple. The sweeping strings wigging out in the background of this track bring a new frantic energy to the record. It’s a good thing that the arrangements start to get wonky and demand your attention this far in the record– it allows those elements to peak a little bit. On the closer “Another California Song”, wurlitzers and vocals start the drama. Once the harmonized fuzz-riffs and plucked bass lines sweep in, it feels like an undeniable high of the album. Considering Ty is a notable musician from L.A, it's quite fitting that this essential Ty album closes with him singing about California. “Another California Song” is yet another very well-written track with an awesome, anthemic energy that makes for an excellent closer.
Possession is Ty Segall’s most tight, digestible and enjoyable front-to-back listen in some years. This album leans effortlessly into a jovial, feel-good and downright-awesome style by Ty and its lifted even higher by beautiful additional arrangements. Although Ty’s later-career work has been very solid (Three Bells was especially great), this record is a particular peak in this era that will surely be looked back on very fondly. Possession peaks even more as a return to form, a modern Ty classic and a very friendly entry point for new listeners. Perhaps leaning into his more beloved and straightforward traditional structures on this album is a strategic power-move at this moment of his career, but ultimately, it's really refreshing while sonically expansive. Now… there's probably (..still) a group of Ty’s old-school garage rocker fans that will be all in a tizzy about Ty not being quite as loud, lo-fi, and weird as he used to be… but honestly, it would do them a world of good to expand their horizons; this type of high quality should be well celebrated this far in any artist's career. Those noisy (and awesome) rocker albums that we all love aren't going anywhere, and before you know it, Ty might have a new version of that style ready to blow your socks off. Ultimately, Possession is a shining example of a great artist’s vision starting to age like a fine wine– so raise your glass if you know what’s good for you.
Occult Highlights: Possession, The Big Day, Fantastic Tomb, Shining, Shoplifter, Another California Song
(…but we recommend playing the full album on your cross country road trip)