Ty Segall is battling it out with Mikal Cronin for West Coast album of the
year thanks to his seventh album Sleeper. Of course, Segall has many many
albums under many many pseudonyms, but for this instance, under his name, this
is his seventh. There's a change of direction in the air. Maybe it's the West
Coast sunset breeze, or the sea water carried from the surfers. Segall, like
Cronin, has matured to a level of cult status that sees Wavves become
unambiguous. The garage rock past of Segall is without a doubt his key musical
element. Fuzz guitars and rapid percussion has earned him a name in
the past decade, so listening to Sleeper is somewhat disturbing.
Disturbing! Yes, Sleeper is unusually slow, strangely acoustic,
disturbingly Bill Cosby Sweater-esque. Segall has taken out the electric guitar;
he's toned down riffs and discovered a new sense of psychedelic folk. Listening
to Sleeper is like sitting through Simon Finn's discography. Simon &
Garfunkel are at the heart of Segall's latest release, but why? It's a change
that describes Segall's new sound as melodic. The hard hitting White Album
progressions of Segall's usual releases are a distant past. Compared to last year’s
Twins, Sleeper is angelic. "The Keepers" sounds like it
belongs on a Moody Blues album, "Come Outside" - Elliot Smith's Either/Or.
Where Segall's been criticised in the past for being too nimble, he answers
the critics with 35 minutes of Syd Barrett material. The Madcap Laughs
is an obvious influence on Sleeper. You can hear the blues, the psych attitude
in Segall's vocal work. His guitar, perfectly aligned with 60s effects -
"She Don't Care". On the self-titled opener, Segall sings:
"I want to sleep all day, with you." The emotions met with Sleeper
all correlate with the album's late night, mellow feel - even the title says it
all. There's no force of nature on Sleeper, it's all laid back material,
and I love every minute of it. From the unexpected electric guitar on
"The Man Man" to the sweet melody of "She Don't Care",
Segall accomplishes a singer-songwriters dream. His lyrics are unique,
Beatle-esque at times like with the aforementioned track.
There are countless comparisons to 60s psych folk on Sleeper.
Segall's influence seems to be less determined by the music of Barrett and
Finn, but more so the need to create something different, unique to his musical
output. Take the third track "Crazy", Segall sounds like a timid Liam
Gallagher over a Lennon / Ono instrumental. The comparisons keep on coming
with "6th Street", this time Segall sounds like 80s Neil Young.
Remember in Almost Famous, where the young kid goes home to rest, or in Forest
Gump, where Jenny goes home to rest; well Sleeper is Segall's rest - you
saw that one coming. His calming voice is on the edge of preachy, whining, but
he doesn't over step the mark. "Queen Lullabye" is like 90s Animal
Collective freak folk, "Sweet C.C." a vox driven rock 'n' roll track.
This is an album of Segall's childhood, the music he grew up listening to
before going to sleep at night. It's an album for 10pm onwards, anytime before
just doesn't seem right.
It makes sense that Sleeper ends with the Segall's best musical
creation in years - "The West". An acoustic ballad reminiscent of
Woody Guthrie's Californee styles. Segall asks himself: "Where do I
go home, is it the West, to my Father's house / Where do I go home, is it the
East, to my Mother's house." - The tale of a man lost in
transit. Acoustic ballads are far and few between these days, as more and more
artists aim for chart hits with an acoustic guitar rather than the poetry a
ballads bring. Segall is a straightforward poet, a modern day music icon, a
cult figure. Some would label Segall a genius, he's just talented in the art of
song-writing. His compositions, especially with "The West", are
enigmatic - they're inspiring. "The West" is the perfect end to Sleeper,
Segall asks questions, leaving the two possible answers unsolved, a mysterious
ending to a mysterious album. Music isn't a challenge for Segall, he can pull
an album out at any given time. When he mixes things up, Sleeper is
created. They say Segall reached his musical peak last year, well I think his pinnacle
albums are yet to come.
~Eddie
8.4