Ty Segall’s ‘Harmonizer’, his first album in two years, finds the psych-obsessed singer-songwriter exploring new soundscapes and embracing thick keyboard textures, potent guitar sounds and much, much more…
‘Ride’ opens the album in suitably squelchy, synthy and kaleidoscopic fashion as Ty tries to recall the past – ‘She can’t remember where it was’ – and looks forward: ‘Would you take me for a ride?’ ‘Waxman’ follows with crunching, industrial guitar riffs very much at the forefront and an anthemic feel throughout: ‘I am always there’. ‘All I want to do is play’ are the opening lines on ‘Play’ – a glam rock-infused stomper that appears to be about how important it is to have fun in your lifetime. ‘Feel Good’ takes the album in an urgent and uptempo garage rock direction, again with reassuring lyrics: ‘Don’t be afraid, I can show you the way’.
These experimental tones continue throughout ‘Changing Contours’ and ‘Learning’, the latter of which almost acts as a calming interlude before ‘Whisper’ takes things back into the kind of space Tame Impala serve so well – although perhaps with elements of the Black Keys’ eye for a melody. ‘Erased’ is another powerful piece drenched in electronic beats while the penultimate title track has a falsetto at the forefront and Ty telling the subject exactly what he wants them to do before harmonies repeat the word ‘harmonising’ over wonky guitar work and hard-hitting drums. ‘Pictures’ closes the album in direct fashion with talk of memories and an intense wall of sound before an about-turn halfway through into a space rock space calms things right down, albeit with the power of ‘memories’ still playing on Ty’s mind.
‘Harmonizer’ is an album that soars.
