As an artist who experienced his radical breakthrough in the 2010s after his release of Slaughterhouse (2012), Ty Segall seemed to have gained fame that was driven by furious punk with an alternative twist. Later, releasing an album titled ”Manipulator,” his attention to such electronic harmonies only increased said fame as it became his best-known piece, hitting 51st in the top charts of 2014. Though this artist’s history seems more chaotic and loud, his new release of “Three Bells” on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024, shows his style has somewhat altered. After slightly devolving from such triumphant popularity through the early 2020s, he is proving to come back into the industry with a new take on punk rock. This new album was engineered and mixed by Cooper Crain, who also co-produced the record with Segall. His sense of extremism has somewhat mellowed from a noisy cacophony to stellar cohesiveness.
“Three Bells” takes its listener on a progressive hour and five-minute journey consisting of a fifteen-song cycle. The album poses a somewhat promising start with “The Bell,” which has a fuzzed lead and crisp drums in the background. As we swim in the eclectic water that Segall provides, he seems to have mellowed his dark funk tendencies. He seems to keep it very quiet when playing acoustic and dimmed songs,. Neither difficult nor dense, there is a subtle, welcoming groove to most of these pieces. Both “Reflections” and “Wait” prove my claim exactly. A gust of tenderness, like a raw wound, is brushed across the surface of each song.
“To You” and “I Hear” seem to hold most of his original sound, somewhat of a psychedelic frenzy, with a cacophony of rings and unconventional beats. Segall seems to hold his sense of anarchistic creativity still. With distorted sounds of acoustic and electric guitars, Segall sings somewhat melancholy tunes in an upbeat light. I would consider these as more ragged punk songs than anything else. If Segall attempts to leave us mystified and perplexed at some points, I would say he succeeded. Though there are moments during this journey where we are confused by such extreme tones, the album exudes a balanced rhythm that is much more coherent than in his previous work.
The musician worked with his wife, Denée Segall, on five of the album’s songs, including “My Room.” It’s gently inspired by 70s rock, with the usage of gentle compositions by the electric guitar tie to construct an infectious melody. Segall plays with expressions of the unfamiliar and emphasizes the comfort of the known. He writes, “Out there, I am nothing/I am something inside my room.” Segall seems to cast a light in the most dreary of dark corners during this piece.
By many accounts, Segall is definitely testing his limits with a change of style. But an experiment is by no means the brink of musical impropriety. He swims deep into his own psyche with a very inviting tone for the listener to do so as well, which is something I believe his past albums have not done as thoroughly. Instead of a discordant waltz, we are taken on a pleasant journey with a soft current. More cohesive than any of his previous work, “Three Bells” is definitely a change to his typical system.
Now in his late thirties, I think it is impressive that he still holds such a sense for this genre of music. After listening to “Three Bells” in its entirety, the listener does not leave bewildered but rather refreshed and pleased. This album was not near his potential based on future charts, but I definitely think it scratches the surface.
Overall Rating: 2.5/5