Ty Segall has been caught in Possession of his 16th album, this time written with help of long-time collaborator Matt Yoka and with his backing band comprised of Mikal Cronin, Eric KM Clark, Kaitlin Wolfberg, Heather Lockie, Emily Elkin and Jordan Katz. The album was recorded and mixed by Ty at Harmonizer studios.
The album opens with Shoplifter who has of course been caught in Possession of the goods they were trying to get away with, it's a matter of survival in brutal times, this almost feels in praise of the art of disappearing goods without getting caught, it gently builds with layers of strings and a soft pulsing beat accompanying the action, the instrumental break towards the end of the song hints at Lou Reed's The Bells before the chorale like conclusion.
Possession wants us all to shout Possession continually over the gently psychedelic backing, the riff slowly rises before the strings work some magic. Buildings have gentle keyboards and strings for foundations, Ty tells us about all the troubles he hopes to leave behind, he hopes that by driving through the city he can eventually leave all the grief behind him.
Shining has a typical Ty Segall guitar line that stutters over the opening before getting crunchier, while the adventure within this song gets going. Skirts Of Heaven have things rising for Ty, he dreams of what could happen between him and those Skirts Of Heaven, can he reach nirvana or will it just be a sordid affair, the brass section in the background lift this, revealing more of what might get Ty to Heaven.
Fantastic Tomb is one of those things anyone who travels will be more than familiar with, finding some fantastic over the top tomb to someone worth more than a country can make, celebrated in huge amounts of marble and precious stones, gilding and the rest of it.
Ty wants some redistribution of his wealth, if that comes from simply burgling his mansion or more prosaically his being dispossessed of his excessive wealth by other means is central to what the loping brass section are up too. When the acoustic guitars come in it almost feels like a play on David Bowie's Black Country Rock.
The Big Day opens with a Mick Ronson steal on the guitar intro. before it all falls away to a soft plaintive song about The Big Day that you'll talk about for years to come. Hotel has some odd moans about things that go wrong at the Hotel while the drums and the pattern they use seem central to what makes this song work, the interplay with the strings swelling around them, Ty tells you not to come back to the Hotel until you've eaten the peach, just as it goes all weird.
Alive has some delightful acoustic guitar and far darker strings convincing us that being Alive is the best state to be in, always listen to the noise inside. The album closes with Another California Song please don't ask how many I already own, I have no idea, will this make the top ten of those tunes, sadly probably not, but it would be just outside that list of magical tunes about the sunshine state, he is worried that while he drives around Los Angeles no one's calling him, he may just have to sit at home alone, while we all marvel at just what the horns are doing once more.
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